Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Aspen Energy tells Beexley council to authorize an RFP before May 7 to continue 100% renewable aggregation
Summary
Aspen Energy presented results of Beexley's electric aggregation program, saying it delivered substantial savings and recommending the city issue an RFP and authorize staff to act before a May 7 market deadline to keep a seamless July transition. Council questioned green vs. brown price differences and opt-out uptake.
Jay Jell of Aspen Energy updated Beexley City Council on the city's electric aggregation program, reporting long-running savings compared with the utility and recommending council authorize staff to launch an RFP and allow the mayor and board of control to finalize a contract when market conditions permit.
Jell said Aspen began helping Bexley with aggregation in October 2023 and that the program delivered a 100% renewable product at 9.49 cents per kilowatt-hour in the current contract period. He said the program produced meaningful community savings over a short time and that supplier energy-efficiency incentives ("greenbacks") have yielded roughly $46,000 used to date with $18,000 unclaimed.
—We started helping Bexley with your aggregation program in 2023,— Jell said. He described a voluntary pause in mid-2025 tied to auction uncertainty and said the firm restarted procurement once it had better visibility of capacity auctions.
Jell urged council to authorize an RFP and to allow staff to act quickly because market volatility creates narrow windows to capture favorable rates. He identified a May 7 deadline as the city's practical last day to secure a smooth July transition.
Council members pressed on the price difference between 100% renewable (the city's default product) and a lower-cost brown product. Jell estimated the incremental cost of renewable energy credits at roughly a quarter of a penny per kilowatt-hour, describing that as —maybe $2 a megawatt hour.— He said Aspen can provide comparative pricing for renewables versus brown product and that prior mailings included a lower-rate opt-in option for residents who prefer the cheaper product.
Council asked for historical participation numbers. Jell said typical participation in aggregation is high (—85 to 90% of eligible participants— historically), but he did not have a precise Beexley-specific opt-out count at the meeting and offered to provide that data at a later date.
Mayor Ben Kesler and council members praised the program's past results and broker work. The presentation closed with a recommendation that council authorize staff to proceed with an RFP or similar market action and to return to the mayor's board of control to finalize terms when a favorable market window opens.
Next steps: staff to provide detailed opt-in/opt-out counts and to present RFP details for council authorization before the May 7 timing constraint.
