Trustees select natural gas supplier, rate

CHILLICOTHE – The Scioto Township Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved a natural gas supplier as part of an aggregation program approved by voters last November that is expected to save residents money over a two years.

Trustees decided to move forward with Volunteer Energy as their supplier after hearing from Scott Belcastro, who represents Trebel Energy Services, and worked directly on behalf of the township to broker a deal with suppliers.

Belcastro said officials had received only two bids — the other was from IGS Energy — and recommended Volunteer Energy because of its lower rate compared with what residents pay to Columbia Gas per 100 cubic feet of gas, or CCF.

Officials had three options to consider under the two proposals: a guaranteed savings program that is a certain percentage off what the utility’s rate was; a fixed rate under the terms of the agreement; or a rate based on the New York Merchantile Exchange plus what’s known as an adder.

The adder, which runs through February 2016 and stands at $1.29 per CCF with Columbia Gas, is expected to change in February. Volunteer’s proposal came back at $1.10 per CCF, an overall discount of 14.8 percent, Belcastro said.

The idea behind the electric and natural gas aggregation program approved by voters is that by buying large blocks of energy or natural gas — on a township-wide scale, for instance — a supplier will offer township residents better rates, as such things as marketing and administrative costs are driven down.

In an aggregation program such as the one approved for Scioto Township, residents have the opportunity to opt out of the program and choose their own supplier of electricity or natural gas rather than go with whichever company township officials, working with an aggregation consulting firm, decide will be the supplier for the township.

Residents had to send back an opt-out letter they should have received in the mail this spring for the electric portion of the program in order to find their own supplier.

Natural gas opt-out letters should be going out in about 15 days, according to Belcastro, who said the biggest benefit for township residents will be flexibility and knowing what their rates will be on a monthly basis.