Colerain: Energy Aggregation Bites Residents in the Wallet; Hope for Better Bet this Year

Colerain Trustees withheld from residents that they were paying 60% more for heating their homes last winter due to aggregation plan.Photo byWaycross Media, retrieved Aug. 28, 2024

This year will be the first in over a decade where Colerain Township residents won't be price-gauged by their township aggregation plan.

For a decade, the township was padding residents' electric bills through a 1/2 cent kickback to the township. Collectively, residents paid approximately $1 million to the township via their electric aggregation contracts, without their knowledge. That practice ended when a local nonprofit, Greater Community Groups, Inc., and residents scoured contract terms to account for a "civic grant" incorporated into the aggregation contract. Since then, the practice has ended.

Regardless of the clandestine donations paid by residents, they still saved money under their aggregation plan. Last year, residents were poised to save the maximum amount possible, without kickbacks.

However, while residents saved significantly on their electric charges, the gas aggregation plan ended up over-charging residents approximately 60% more than competitive rates in the open market. While the township attempted to renegotiate the terms of their contract when they discovered the excessively high pricing, the aggregator refused to renegotiate their contract.

Colerain Township has renegotiated its energy aggregation plans. Residents seek notice when rate plan exceeds market rates.Photo byColerain.org Retrieved Sept 1, 2024

The township trustees, Dan Unger, Cathy Ulrich, and Matt Wahlert, could have forced the aggregator back to the bargaining table if they had advised residents of what was happening and there was a max exodus from the aggregation program via the legally required "opt-out" provision. Instead, the township decided to hold its cards close to the breast while residents weathered huge heating bills over the winter. Jeff Weckbach, the township administrator, only made the information public after the contract expired and while initiating negotiations for the next term of the aggregation plan.

Currently, the terms of the aggregation plans for gas and electricity are below the open market competitive rate. However, if rates continue to go down, the township will again face a dilemma: to tell residents the truth or to conceal the information at great costs to the residents.

The Greater Community Groups, Inc. would like the township to post the rates on its website daily to ensure residents can make informed decisions about their utility bills.