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New power supplier in Portage NOPEC inks 9-year deal with FirstEnergy for most of county

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By Eric Marotta
News Leader Editor
The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council has agreed to a nine-year deal making FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. the electricity generation supplier in Kent, Hiram and Portage County’s 18 townships.
Electricity generation covers the cost of electricity a customer uses and is separate from the utility fee charged by FirstEnergy Corp., which owns transmission lines in much of Northeast Ohio.
Customers in NOPEC communities are automatically assigned to the electricity supplier, unless they “opt out” of the program by choosing to purchase power from a different company.
The new agreement extends from Jan. 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2019. However, FirstEnergy also will be the generation supplier in 2010, under a letter of intent between FES and Gexa Energy — NOPEC’s current generation supplier.
According to a press release, NOPEC residential customers will receive 6 percent off the generation price charged by the area’s local electric utility — which is Ohio Edison in Summit and Portage counties.
Small businesses will get a 4 percent discount off the local utility price through the end of 2019.
In addition, residential customers who receive special generation credits from the electric utility for having electric space heating, water heating and/or load management equipment will receive a 4 percent discount from Jan. 1, 2010, through May 31, 2012. The discount for these customers increases to 6 percent from June 1, 2012, to the end of 2019.
As part of the deal, FES will give NOPEC a one-time grant of $12 million for energy-related programs throughout its communities.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to supply electric generation to the approximately 500,000 electric customers in NOPEC’s communities,” said FirstEnergy President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony J. Alexander.
NOPEC’s board chairman Joe Migliorini said the conglomerate’s group buying power has given it the opportunity to obtain substantial savings.
“Our communities will have access to a substantial pool of grant money designated for energy conservation, renewable energy and energy education projects, economic development grants for advanced energy projects that will create jobs in our communities and general fund purposes for communities in dire need,” he said.
The community grant available through Powering Our Communities will be paid to NOPEC on or before Jan. 31, 2010, and funds will be disbursed to the NOPEC communities through a grant application program administered through an independent committee.
The level of funding is based on the number of customers in each community who participate in the program.
The News Leader is a sister publication of the Record-Courier.