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Energy adviser: aggregation still offers savings despite higher market prices; council authorizes administrator to sign agreement
Summary
Energy Alliance COO Rich Sarais told the council the city's aggregation program has saved the average resident nearly 17% since November 2023 and recommended continuing the program; council authorized the administrator to enter an aggregation agreement (vendor named in the resolution as Dyna Energy Services).
Rich Sarais, chief operating officer of Energy Alliance Incorporated, told the South Lebanon City Council on Aug. 21 that the city’s residential electric-aggregation program — in effect since November 2023 — "has saved the average resident almost 17%" and delivered about "$280" per household on average and "just shy of $400,000" in aggregate savings, according to his presentation.
Sarais said market conditions have changed and that capacity costs have increased, but that an aggregation contract could still yield a roughly 10–12% savings compared with Duke Energy’s default-generation price he cited as about 10.43¢ per kilowatt-hour. He recommended authorizing the city administrator to sign a new contract and discussed the option of a 13-month term, which he said would slightly lower the quoted price versus a 12-month term.
Council members asked procedural questions: which residents would receive opt-out letters (those on Duke default generation, not customers already under a third-party contract), whether door-to-door solicitations are involved (they are not), and how residents can opt in or opt out. Sarais said letters would go out in September to residents on the aggregation program and that anyone could opt out up through the contract’s enrollment period.
Council voted to adopt Emergency Resolution 2025-35 authorizing the city administrator to enter into an electric-aggregation agreement with the vendor named in the resolution, Dyna Energy Services. During Sarais’s remarks the vendor name was also pronounced as "Downity," a discrepancy noted in the meeting record; the council vote authorized the administrator to execute the agreement as written in the resolution.
The council motion included direction for the administration to proceed with contract execution and to notify eligible residents. No pricing spreadsheet or independent verification of the vendor’s aggregate-savings figures was presented in the transcript; council accepted the recommendation and approved the authorization during the meeting.
