Aggregation conversation: Commissioners meet with Palmer Energy rep
Commissioners meet with Palmer Energy rep
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Washington County Commissioners discussed the process of bidding for natural gas for the natural gas aggregation program with a representative from Palmer Energy during Thursday's commission meeting.
Voters approved a natural gas aggregation program for residents of unincorporated areas of Washington County on the May 2023 ballot with 50.23% of the vote.
The way an aggregation program works is a group of people purchase services, as opposed to each individual doing so. Combining their buying power helps people save money by allowing them to purchase services at a lower rate than individual customers could.
The county is using Palmer Energy to handle the bidding process for the gas aggregation program, according to Washington County Commissioner James Booth.
Phil Dicer from Palmer Energy was at the meeting to discuss adding an additional set of customers to the natural gas aggregation program.
Dicer said that Palmer Energy used maps provided by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to find natural gas customers. Palmer Energy was told there were only Columbia Gas customers in the unincorporated areas of Washington County.
"We got the meter count back, it seemed pretty low so we did some extensive research ... (we) discovered that there were actually quite a few folks (that were Dominion Energy customers) as well," Dicer said.
There are a little more than 3,600 eligible meters that belong to Dominion Energy gas customers. He needs to get these people up to speed and set up in the current gas aggregation program, he said.
Dicer said to do that an addendum to the current agreement needs to be signed. He said that they need to discuss when to bid for the pricing for the natural gas for Dominion Energy customers.
Historically springtime is when bids are put out for pricing for natural gas because temperatures are less cold. This year is different because though this past week was frigid, the winter has been very mild. He would like to bid out for pricing now, Dicer said.
"Our analysts back at the office at Palmer think it's a good idea to go as soon as we can out for pricing," Dicer said.
Palmer Energy wants to bid out for pricing now so they can get the Dominion Energy gas customers added and because right now the market will produce some savings, he said.
Palmer wants to bid out the pricing and set up a 14 month contract for the Dominion Energy Gas customers that want to participate in the natural gas aggregation program. They would set the contract to end at the same time as the aggregation agreement for the Columbia Gas customers, which is June 2025.
Dicer said that if they bid it out now, the price they would be looking at is around $4 per cubic foot (Mcf) of gas.
People can opt out of the natural gas aggregation program just as they can the electric aggregation program.
Commissioner James Booth did not agree that the bidding for the natural gas prices should start yet.
"Looking at $3 to $4 per Mcf of gas, that's a 33% increase that a lot of folks will mention right off the bat so, I think we're still deciding on if we are going to allow it to go out to bid now versus in the spring," Booth said.
Commissioner Charlie Schilling agreed with Booth.
"I think it's in our best interest to continue to evaluate it moving forward and make that decision when the time is right," Schilling said.
Commissioner Kevin Ritter pointed out that the Dominion Energy gas customers will have the chance to opt out of the natural gas aggregation program just like the Columbia Gas customers did.
The commissioners did not make any votes regarding whether to start the process of bidding for the pricing of the natural gas.
In other business:
*Commissioners approved appropriating $500,000 to the County General Fund. The purpose of the money is to pay the City of Marietta based on the Devola Sewer Agreement.
*Approved bills totalling $652,635.22.
*Approved a $20,000 appropriation for from the Recorder's Technology Fund to9 the
*Approved two transfers. One was for $22,983.29 for the Engineer fund and one was for $1.80 for the Washington County Board of Elections Security Grant Fund. Transfers are where money is moved from one account to another.
*Approved 12 Then & Now items. They are purchase orders that are more than $100.
*Approved an agreement between the Washington County Office of Emergency Management (EMA) and the Washington County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The agreement states that the EMA provides administrative support, a Community Emergency Coordinator, a Compliance Officer, a Public Records Administrator, and an Administrator of Chemical Emergency Planning and Right-to-Know Fund Grant to the LEPC on an as needed basis.
*Voted to table discussing a liquor permit for Staley Countryside Meat Company LLC to give the public a chance to comment.
*At their last meeting on Jan. 11, commissioners voted to table discussing the engineering contract with American Structure Point for a multimodal parking project so they could have more time to review it. They decided they would discuss it at the next meeting. Commissioners did not discuss the contract on Thursday.
*Approved a contract for the Washington County Sheriff and the Village of Lowell. The agreement is for the Washington County Jail to house any person arrested by the Village of Lowell Police Department. The Village of Lowell will pay $100 per person per day for the services.
*Voted to table a discussion of the engineer contract for a pump station project. This is due to the contract still being reviewed.
*Approved a contract for Veregy to provide controls at the juvenile center.
Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com