Trumbull County authorizes electric aggregation agreement; one commissioner objects

The Trumbull County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 25, 2026, approved a resolution to enter a governmental electric aggregation participation agreement for county residents and other political subdivisions, delegating signature authority to one commissioner (following the board’s chain of command) to execute the agreement with the lowest and best vendor recommended by the CCAO Service Corp. and Palmer Energy when a market price lock occurs.

Bill Danso of the county prosecutor’s office told the board that recent global events had unsettled the energy market and that firm price locks were not yet available. He recommended authorizing a commissioner to sign with the vendor that offered the lowest pricing at the moment a lock becomes available so the county could act quickly. “Because of some of the recent world events, apparently the energy market is being disrupted… and we do not have the locked-in pricing yet,” Danso said, explaining the rationale for delegating signature authority.

Commissioner Hernandez opposed the approach and recorded a no vote, saying the motion left too much discretion with county staff and the selected vendor without broader solicitation. Hernandez said he was not opposed to aggregation in principle but objected to authorizing a single signatory without additional vendor proposals, characterizing the authorization as akin to writing a “blank check.”

Other commissioners defended delegation as a practical step to allow the county to secure bulk rates quickly for residents who are part of the county program, noting that residents may opt out of aggregation and that some municipalities inside the county have separate programs.

What’s next: The authorization gives the county the ability to sign when a vendor’s price is locked; commissioners said they would follow the chain of command for signature and notify residents of opt-out procedures in bill mailings.