SALEM — Residents are advised to review their individual gas suppliers and rates amidst the city’s ongoing efforts to secure a new gas aggregation contract.
“We want to provide residents with the tools and awareness of the situation to let them make the best decisions for them,” said city Service-Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello.
The city of Salem has been without a contract for its gas aggregation program since their prior provider Volunteer Energy went bankrupt, canceling all their contracts and forcing Salem and all the other municipalities contracted with them to find a new supplier. Since then, Volunteer Energy parent company Columbia Gas has switched all gas aggregation program participants to their standard choice rate, which fluctuates each month in response to market pressures.
It was initially hoped that a new contract would be in place in August, with the authority to enter into a new contract for the program on the city’s behalf granted to Cappuzzello by council. However, the rampant inflation that the nation has been experiencing has had a particularly pronounced impact on the natural gas industry as it is a commodity industry. Salem’s aggregation broker AMPO has been and continues to track the market daily to find the best path for the program moving forward; however, the market is currently unfavorable to lock in a contracted rate for the community.
Terry Leach, vice president and chief risk officer of AMPO, will attend Tuesday’s city council meeting to provide an update on the state of the natural gas industry and the aggregation program. Residents are welcomed and encouraged to attend to gain better insight into the matter.
In the interest of aiding residents in making the best decision for them, an update was posted to the city’s website Wednesday on the gas/electric aggregation page in the city services section at http://www.cityofsalemohio.org/.../gas-and-electric.../. Included in the update is a link to www.energychoice.ohio.gov, a tool that allows visitors to directly compare electric and natural gas suppliers and their rates in an easily understandable way, showing whether a rate is variable or fixed, the price per unit, the term length, any termination fee and any monthly fees for the plan. To use the tool residents should navigate to the compare gas rates page, then in the drop-down menu under the residential category select the city’s natural gas supplier Columbia Gas.
Cappuzzello urged residents to seek out a fixed rate plan with no termination fee and no monthly fee, allowing residents to cancel the plan in favor of a lower priced option in the event of an improvement in the state of the market, but protecting them against any further inflation, particularly as the coming winter months are typically the highest use months of the year for gas as many homes have gas-based heating. Cappuzzello also noted that as it is a commodity industry rates change daily and can only be guaranteed for a given day, so if a favorable plan is found it is best to capitalize on it that day as it may be unavailable the next.
In the event of a new contract for the gas aggregation program being reached all residents will be notified of the change by mail and given the option to opt in to the program under the new rate.
mahart@mojonews.com
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