It has been some time since I have written about aggregation, and I thought it might be a good idea to provide an update. Communities across Ohio have been voting with overwhelming margins to approve aggregation and are finding that “bulk purchasing power” is allowing them to obtain the lowest utility rates available in the market. Communities much smaller than Sidney have found success in combining their purchasing power to negotiate lower natural gas and electric rates.

The residents of Sidney, Fort Loramie, Russia, Botkins, Lockington and Bradford each independently voted and overwhelmingly approved an Opt-Out Aggregation Program as a means of shopping for lower natural gas and electric rates in November 2015. Affordable Gas + Electric (AGE) was contracted as our consultant to help us navigate through the process.

At the time, AGE was put through an exhaustive vetting process. That process included interviews with multiple consultants who competed to win the opportunity to serve our residents and small businesses. It included checking references, talking with officials throughout Illinois, where AGE is headquartered and where aggregation had been the “law of the land” for much longer than had been the case in Ohio.

As we interviewed consultants, the mayors of surrounding villages were invited to participate in the process. The work schedules of then Fort Loramie Mayor Phil Eilerman and Russia Mayor Terry Daughtery allowed them to join Sidney’s City Council for the interview process.

The expertise to manage and maintain an aggregation program is lacking in nearly every community. It is expertise that no one in Sidney’s City Hall possessed, and we certainly lacked the resources to employ someone who possessed that expertise.

I worked alongside AGE to expand the circle of participating communities, understanding that if we could attract even more customers, we could drive utility prices even lower. The cities of Bellefontaine and Greenville joined our aggregate, as did the villages of Anna, Ansonia, Belle Center, Covington, DeGraff, Quincy, Wayne Lakes and West Milton, as well as the unincorporated areas of Newberry Township in Miami County.

I was so excited by the savings possible through aggregation that I invited businesses and industrial customers to consider forming an aggregate pool. A nice-sized group of commercial and industrial customers did so, resulting in substantial savings for them as well.

I continue to work with AGE for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I like what they have done for us. My secondary motive continues to be that if we can expand the group a bit more, we can selfishly gain even greater savings for local residents. As a result, I continue to make presentations to communities in our region.

One of those visits that paid dividends was a presentation that I made to Urbana’s City Council in May 2017. Urbana’s Council ultimately submitted the issue to the voters, and they approved aggregation in November 2017. As a result, beginning with the 2018 November/December billing cycles, eligible residents in Urbana will receive an electric supply rate of 4.88 cents per kWh.

After AGE consulted with elected and appointed officials in the other communities in the aggregate including Sidney, Bellefontaine and Greenville, we agreed to extend our current contract to take advantage of the lower per kilowatt hour rate. Our rate and the rate of the other members of the aggregate will also be reduced to 4.88 cents per kWh beginning in April 2020. Our current rate is currently locked in at 5.441 cents per kWh through April 2019. It will then fall to 5.29 cents per kWh and will remain there until April 2020.

In addition to Sidney, Urbana, Bellefontaine and Greenville, the current aggregate pool includes Anna, Ansonia, Belle Center, Botkins, Bradford, Coldwater, Covington, DeGraff, Fort Loramie, Fort Recovery, Jeffersonville, Lockington, Quincy, Russia, West Milton, Wayne Lakes and the unincorporated areas of Newberry Township in Miami County.

There is still substantial room to grow the buying pool. There are a number of municipalities that could join the pool, ranging from communities as small as Christiansburg (population 500) and Pleasant Hill (population 1,200) to Marysville (24,406) and Dayton (140,489). There are also the unincorporated areas that are eligible (households served by a rural electric cooperative are not eligible).

Despite historically low prices, natural gas aggregation has also provided residents the opportunity to see significant savings in their monthly bills. The current negotiated rate of $0.423 per hundred cubic feet (CCF) of natural gas is still well below the prices currently being offered by suppliers. That price is fixed through April, 2019.

Once you are part of our program, you never need do anything additional. However, utility companies will continue to attempt to lure customers away with offers to switch. I have personally received a number of offers that have included $100 gift cards and other incentives, including an introductory rate far below our current rate. In reading the fine print of the contract, however, I found that the introductory rate was good for just the first three months of the contract. After that, the rate increased dramatically for the remainder of the contract. I would caution consumers to read the “fine print” carefully before signing a multi-year contract.

Remember, you can leave our aggregate at any time, without penalty. That is likely not the case with any other program. Aggregate programs generally require you to sign a contract that will force you to remain with that supplier for a fixed period of time, or be assessed a substantial penalty for early withdrawal.

A significant number of residents are not part of the current aggregation pool. I have spoken to a number who believe they are, but if you were under contract when the voters approved aggregation (and about 55 percent of residents were), you were, by law, excluded from the pool. You can, however, join when your current contract expires, and reap the benefits.

In closing, I should again note that none of the city, village or township program sponsors receive any monetary benefit from aggregation. The benefit comes from knowing that our consumers save money on utility costs — costs that have increased dramatically in the past several years.

If your electric or natural gas supply contract is ending soon and you would like to investigate the city’s program, visit the city’s website at (www.sidneyoh.com/utilities/aggreagtion.asp. Additional information may also be obtained by contacting AGE at 618.203.8328.