ASHLAND – Voters said “yes” and Ashland City Council agreed to move forward with plans to become a natural gas aggregator.
So how might that impact gas bills in Ashland?
If you’re a city resident or business owner and a Columbis Gas customer on the company’s Standard Choice Offer plan, you’re likely to see a drop in the supply portion of your bill starting next spring.
That’s according to Jay Sell, senior energy consultant for Aspen Energy, the Dublin-based energy consulting firm that is helping the city set up its aggregation program and serving as the broker to negotiate with natural gas suppliers.
Sell said he likely will recommend Ashland go with Volunteer Energy Services, the same supplier he recently recommended to the City of Shelby for its aggregation program. That program saves residents a guaranteed 7 percent compared to Columbia Gas of Ohio’s Standard Choice Offer.
“It’s designed to save our residents some money,” city finance director Larry Paxton said of the aggregation program.
The savings will apply only to the supplier portion of the gas bill, not the delivery charges.
Sell said his company receives no money from the city by entering into a two-year partnership with Ashland. Instead, Aspen will be paid by the gas supplier Ashland chooses.
Based on trends he is seeing in the natural gas market, Sell said he is likely to recommend a variable rate plan rather than a fixed rate. That’s because natural gas prices have remained relatively low and stable for several years.
But even though the rate is variable, aggregation program participants can expect a lower rate than the Standard Choice Offer.
Some natural gas customers will not be eligible for the city’s aggregation rate. Those include Columbia Gas of Ohio customers who are on percentage-of-income plans, those participating in the Customer Choice Program to receive service from another provider and any mercantile customers using 500 Mcf or more per year.
Other customers will be automatically enrolled in the aggregation program, likely in April or May 2018. Before that, probably in March or April, customers will receive a notice in the mail allowing them to opt out if they choose not to participate in the aggregation program. Customers have 21 days to opt-out before the start of the program, but they can also opt out later at any point.
Customers who stay in the aggregation program will continue to receive their bills from Columbia Gas, but will see a change in the supplier name.
Paxton said since it started working with Sell about a year and a half ago, the city has been approached by other companies who wanted to represent Ashland in the aggregation process.
“At this point, the reason we chose Aspen was because Jay came to us and did the leg work initially,” Paxton said, adding that after a two-year period, the city may reevaluate.
