Madison County hears presentation on renewing energy aggregation, board told to recertify with PUCO

Madison County commissioners heard a detailed presentation Feb. 10 on renewing the county's community choice aggregation (CCA) energy program and were advised to complete required recertification with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

The update came from a consultant working with Palmer Energy and the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, who said the county's CCA contract is due for routine recertification and that the program can continue once the county signs and notarizes the one-page certification required by PUCO.

Why it matters: the CCA pools residential and small-business accounts to increase buying power when soliciting electricity suppliers. The consultant told commissioners that opting out of the program is always available to residents at no cost, but that running the program as opt-out generally draws more supplier bids and yields lower prices than opt-in alternatives.

The presentation walked the board through recent bidding behavior and market drivers. "Historically we have seen two or three bids come back; sometimes only one," the consultant said, noting consolidation and mergers in the supplier market. He cited a large increase in capacity costs as a major factor in recent price volatility, saying capacity costs rose from about $29 per megawatt-hour-day to roughly $280 per megawatt-hour-day during the most extreme spike, which pushed aggregate prices higher.

Commissioners asked about contract lock-in length and whether longer terms (24 to 36 months) would be preferable to a one-year lock. The consultant recommended a shorter 12-month lock to preserve flexibility, arguing the downside risk of being locked into a higher price outweighed the potential upside if markets fell.

Board members also raised questions about the resident notification letter that accompanies program enrollment. The consultant said county branding on the mailing (including use of the county seal) helps residents open and read the notice rather than discarding it as a solicitation, but he cautioned that the letter must meet Ohio Revised Code requirements for opt-out disclosure language. He said changes could be proposed for future mailings but would need to be submitted before the next letter production to ensure compliance.

The consultant said Palmer (as the county's independent energy consultant) handles the recertification filing and some annual fees on the county's behalf and that he would return to the board with RFP pricing later in the spring after the county's AEP data form is processed to determine actual participant load.

"We just need to get that recertification in so that the commissioners can continue to be the activators on behalf of the residents and small businesses of the county," the consultant said.

Next steps: the presenter said he would forward documentation to commissioners for review this week and recommended the board authorize a county administrator to complete the renewal process. The board discussed moving to executive session for a separate matter and took no vote recorded on changing program language at the meeting.

(Reporting based solely on remarks made at the Feb. 10 Madison County Board of Commissioners meeting; numbers and policy descriptions quoted reflect statements by the consultant and commissioners.)