As reported in energychoicematters.com, NOPEC (Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council) has selected NextEra Energy Services Ohio, LLC (NESO) as their electricity supplier. The NOPEC municipal aggregation program currently serves almost 500,000 customers in 13 northern Ohio counties served by FirstEnergy’s Ohio utility companies; Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison. NESO will begin supplying power on January 1, 2017. Under the NOPEC-NESO agreement, small commercial customers in the territory served by The Illuminating Company and Ohio Edison will be on a contracted rate equal to the 4% discount customers received under the NOPEC-FES agreement, which expires on December 31, 2016. After August 2017, customers will receive a competitive variable rate based on the wholesale purchase prices available in the market at that time. The story in energychoicematters.com gives more detail on the NOPEC-NESO agreement.
We are advising customers who have accounts currently under NOPEC to call us to discuss their options. While the NOPEC-NESO agreement is designed to provide the same 4% discount provided under the NOPEC-FES agreement, there are several reasons customers may want to consider an alternative approach.
- The NOPEC-NESO price will end August 2017, at which point customers will be exposed to variable market pricing. While variable pricing may be right for some customers, it may not be the best solution for others. We suggest customers contact us to get an objective review of their energy portfolio and risk tolerance so that an appropriate energy strategy can be developed based on their specific criteria.
- The 4% provided by the NOPEC-NESO agreement for the first 8 months of 2017 may not be as good as the discount a customer could receive under a competitive RFP. SES employs a competitive RFP process to ensure maximum savings by getting many suppliers competing for our customer’s business.
- Under the NOPEC-NESO agreement, customers will not have a choice between fixed and variable pricing. Prices will be fixed for 8 months and variable thereafter. In our view, accepting a 3-year contract when pricing is only known for the first 8 months creates risk for customers.
When you receive your “opt-out” postcard from NOPEC you will need to choose whether or not you want to stay with NOPEC. Our understanding is that if you do nothing as NOPEC is suggesting it will be the same as signing a contract with NextEra and you will be subject to the terms and conditions of the contract.
If you are a NOPEC customer and would like to see more information or additional price offers before you decide, please contact Laura Sherman at 440.665.9491 or [email protected]
Note: The specific details provided on the NOPEC-NESO agreement have been sourced from the Plain Dealer and energychoicematters.com.