Monday’s hearing is at 6 p.m. in the commission chambers at city hall, 101 W. Third St.
Energy aggregation likely will reduce the electric bills of 20,000 to 30,000 participating property owners, which combined could keep millions of dollars in the pockets of residents and business owners, officials said.
“Whenever we have an opportunity, we want to try to provide a benefit to our citizens,” said Ken Marcellus, community coordinator with the city’s department of planning and development.
In Ohio, citizens in local communities can band together to essentially become a single utility customer, increasing their buying power, which can result in reduced power rates.
In July 2013, Dayton city commissioners approved placing on the November ballot a request for the authority to create an opt-out electric power aggregation program.
The measure passed, just barely, with 50.4 percent of the vote, according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
City commissioners will vote early next month whether to approve the plan. The city will then submit it to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for certification so the city can become a Competitive Retail Electric Service provider.
The city will then issue a request for proposals to hire a broker, who will analyze utility data to determine what properties are eligible to participate in the program, Marcellus said.
Using that information, the city will then go out for bid to find an electric supplier. The process is expected to take nine months to a year to complete.
Eligible property owners next year will receive two notices in the mail, asking whether they wish to opt out of the program. One notice will be from the city, the other from the selected electric supplier.
Eligible property owners are automatically enrolled in the bulk purchasing program, and participation requires no further action.
Citizens who do not wish to participate simply need to choose to opt out.
Businesses, churches and residents are eligible to participate if they use less than 700,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, city officials said. That can include fairly large buildings, considering Dayton City Hall uses about 800,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, officials said.
Properties also are not eligible if they have a contract with another Competitive Retail Electric Service provider or are enrolled in a Percentage of Income Payment Plan.
Individual electric savings will vary, depending on electric usage, but the aggregate annual savings could be millions of dollars, city officials said.
The most important benefit of aggregation is the opportunity for residents and small businesses to save money on their electric bills,
The deregulation of the power industry has provided customers with the ability to choose their electric supplier, but only a small percentage of electric customers have taken advantage of this cost-savings opportunity, said Tim Riordan, Dayton’s city manager.
“This program will allows retail electric suppliers to save money on marketing their services to each individual household and on administration costs,” Riordan said. “These savings are passed on to the customers in the form of lower electric rates.”
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