Washington County Commissioners discussed Washington County’s electric aggregation program on Wednesday.

Commissioner James Booth said he has received calls from residents about the energy aggregate program, so he wanted to share information about it with Washington County residents.

The commissioners put the question of having an aggregate program for electric and natural gas on the May 2023 ballot so voters could decide the issue. Both were narrowly approved, with the electric aggregation receiving 50.37% of the vote and natural gas getting 50.23%.

Commissioner Charlie Schilling said the programs are for residents and small businesses that are in unincorporated areas that are not in city or village limits.

The way the program works, according to Booth, is that the supplier for the electric and gas is bid out. The commissioners chose Palmer Energy to handle the bid for the price for the electric supplier. Palmer performed the bid process during the offseason, in the fall, when electricity is cheaper, Booth said.

They picked Energy Harbor as the electric generator/supplier, Booth said, which was one of the least expensive at 6.6 cents per kilowatt hour. AEP is distributing the power at a cost of 10.9 cents per kwH. Energy Harbor said residents who did not opt out should be hearing now from AEP stating that the supply portion of their bill is being taken over by Energy Harbor. If they want to opt out now, they send the letter back to AEP letting them know they don’t want to participate. There is no fee to opt out or leave the electric aggregation program. Residents and small businesses will still receive just one electric bill from AEP. The difference is that they will see the Energy Harbor logo listed on the bill too.

Residents and small businesses that were already participating in an aggregate program or the Percentage of Income Payment Plan program were not included in the new aggregation program. Booth said he has heard from residents asking if the Energy Harbor program is a scam.

“It’s not a scam,” Schilling said.

Residents and small businesses can learn more about the electric aggregation program at https://energyharbor.com/en/community-programs/find-your-program/washington-county-washington-aepco.