Residents of the county’s unincorporated areas turned down a ballot issue in 2000 that would have allowed energy aggregation and potentially some savings on their electricity bills. Voters might be faced with the same issue within the next year.
Aggregation would allow the county to buy electricity collectively for the different townships and potentially receive lower rates.
“We would go out and bargain for everybody, for the public, for their electric bills,” Commissioner Steve Hambley explained.
The bargaining would not be available to residents currently being served by Lorain-Medina Rural Electric or by municipal power systems in Wadsworth, Seville or Lodi.
Hambley said when the issue was on the ballot nine years ago, it was favored in some of the more densely populated townships, such as Brunswick Hills and Montville. It failed in the more rural townships, many of which are serviced by LMRE and ineligible for aggregation, he said.
In all, Hambley said 49.4 percent of residents in the county’s unincorporated areas voted for aggregation.
Brunswick and Medina passed similar issues on the November 2000 ballot. The Northeast Ohio Public Electricity Council negotiates deals for power in Brunswick.
Medina currently does not work with any company for electric aggregation, Service Director Nino Piccoli said. In 2001, the city worked with American Municipal Power for one year to purchase electricity.
Hambley said the county recently was approached by power aggregator Buckeye Energy Brokers Inc. of Twinsburg about looking into aggregation again for the county’s unincorporated areas.
“We normally try to get offers residents don’t get on their own,” said Thomas Bellish, president of the company who met with commissioners Monday.
During the meeting, commissioners said residents could save up to $4 million annually among the 23,000 eligible households in the townships with energy aggregation.
They said residents would have the opportunity to opt out of the program if they didn’t want to participate.
Hambley said the county will “devote some time and effort” into researching the possibility of aggregation.
“But right now we’re inundated with issues of budgets, not of aggregation,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t take a look at it.”
Hambley said a ballot issue could appear as early as the Nov. 3 general election. The filing deadline for that election is Aug. 20.
Contact Maria Kacik at (330) 721-4049 or mkacik@ohio.net.
