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Grove City Council OKs one-year extension of electric aggregation, declares emergency
Summary
Council adopted ordinance C17-25 to extend the city's electric governmental aggregation program for 12 months and authorized the administrator to lock a supplier rate; council declared the measure an emergency and approved it unanimously.
Grove City Council voted unanimously to approve ordinance C17-25, authorizing the city administrator to enter into an agreement with a competitive retail electric supplier to extend the city's electric aggregation program for one year and declaring the ordinance an emergency.
The vote came after a staff summary and a presentation by consultant Greg Beckert of Syoda Energy. Steve (city administrator) told council the program, available to residents inside the corporate limits unless they opt out, had saved the average household roughly $380 over the prior two years and that staff sought authority to lock a new 12-month contract that morning. The proposed supplier rate was described in the meeting as roughly 9.39'09.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, and staff said the city would not accept a rate above 9.9 cents.
"What we're asking council for today is authority to lock something in tomorrow that we believe will be close to the quote we got today," Steve said. Greg Beckert of Syoda Energy told council the market has been "pretty volatile" and that the one-year option avoids premiums suppliers were charging for longer terms. Beckert said the procurement offered a renewable energy component and that the expected household saving versus AEP's upcoming utility rate would be modest'about $5 per month if the near-term quotes held.
Councilors asked how soon AEP'the incumbent utility'would change its rates; Beckert said the change typically shows up on customers' June invoices and that modeling at the time put AEP's expected rate between 10 and 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, excluding renewable content. City staff stressed residents would be sent notification and could opt out.
Because supplier pricing holds only until the utility's daily offer window closes, council voted first to waive the normal waiting period and then to adopt the ordinance as an emergency so staff could lock a supplier price the following day if the quote met city limits. The council president asked staff to contact the utility first thing the next morning and to refrain from locking a contract if the price exceeded 9.9 cents.
The action directs the city administrator to finalize the contract within the authorized price band and to report back to council on the rate secured.
Votes at a glance: council voted to (1) suspend the waiting period and (2) adopt ordinance C17-25 as an emergency. Both actions carried unanimously.
The ordinance is administrative: it directs the administrator to execute a contract within parameters set by council; no additional regulatory changes were discussed. Staff and the consultant said the program retains a green energy component within the supplier product and emphasized residents'who are automatically enrolled'may opt out at any time.
Council asked staff and the consultant to continue monitoring the market and to reoffer a longer term only if a materially better option emerges.
