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By Dover Township Trustee John Fondriest

The Dover Township Trustees have been asked to consider adopting an electric aggregation program that would affect all Dover Township residents. What’s that mean? The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) describes it as this:

“In Ohio, local communities are allowed, by law, to join their citizens together to buy electricity as a group and thereby gain ‘buying power’ to solicit the lowest price for the group’s electricity needs.”

According to my most recent electric bill from AEP, “a new supplier must offer [me] a price lower than 7.8 cents per KWH” in order to save me money. That’s my price-to-compare rate. Armed with this information, I did my research, and here’s what I found.

A good example of an electric aggregation program is Stark County’s Jackson Township, which adopted electric aggregation in 2010 and detail the benefits of their program on their website. It states that AEP customers within their township receive a 3% discount off the price-to-compare rate through their aggregation program. If Dover Township adopted a similar program, I would be locked into a rate of 7.566 cents per KWH through the program.

I also entered my address in the PUCO Apples to Apples comparison chart and found that there are 39 companies with rates lower than my current one—with variable and fixed rates starting as low as 6.39 cents per KWH. Most of those—29, to be specific—beat the rate I would receive through Jackson Township’s electric aggregation program.

Given this information, the Dover Township Trustees have decided to take a wait-and-see approach on electric aggregation. Residents who would like to voice their opinion on this matter are asked to complete a brief survey here.

Want to compare your energy rate options? Here’s how to get started:

• Look at your most recent electric bill for your price-to-compare rate.
• Enter your address in the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s Utility Information
• Click Search.
• Click Compare Suppliers.
• Select the down arrow under price per KWH to compare rates starting from the lowest.

Remember: these rates are only for generation services and do not include the distribution and transmission rates. Read the offer details and terms of service carefully before signing up with a new provider. Dover Township and its officials intend only to inform residents of the PUCO Apples to Apples comparison feature and are not endorsing any electric company or offering.