Natural gas aggregation will have new supplier

News Editor
news@presspublications.com

Residents enrolled in the Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition for natural gas service will have a new supplier starting with the October billing period.
Constellation Energy has informed NOAC it will not be the coalition supplier, starting with the June billing period. The program will restart with a new supplier, Archer Energy.
In the interim during the summer, Columbia Gas will be the supplier.
The communities participating in NOAC for natural gas aggregation include the cities of Maumee, Northwood, Oregon, Perrysburg, Rossford, Sylvania, and Toledo; the villages of Delta, Ottawa Hills, and Walbridge; Lake Township, and the unincorporated areas of Lucas County served by Columbia Gas.
“When we collectively went out for requests for proposals we learned Constellation Energy made the internal decision not to respond to the RFP. They had made a strategic change in their business plan to not offer any future aggregation proposals to residential customers in Ohio. It wasn’t just our communities. It’s across the board,” said Mark Frye, president of Palmer Energy, the consulting firm for NOAC, “We tried to secure other offers as well. The objective for the aggregation is to be below Columbia’s standard choice offer pricing. Initially we were unable to get offers below that price. A few weeks later we had a supplier approach us, Archer Energy, which had shifted its strategy and decided they could beat the Columbia price.”
Frye said residents participating in the aggregation should expect an offer letter from Archer Energy sometime in August.
“They can make their decision to participate in the aggregation or not from there,” he said.
Columbia’s standard choice offer pricing is based on the New York Mercantile Exchange settlement price on the last day of trading for the applicable billing month plus what is called an “adder” of 16.6 cents per hundred cubic feet.
Archer’s pricing, starting with the October billing period, is the NYMEX settlement price on the last day of trading plus an adder of 15.99 cents per hundred cubic feet.
Eligible residents can choose to opt out of the aggregation, Frye said, otherwise they will automatically be re-enrolled in when Archer becomes the supplier. If participants want to leave later they can do so without a fee.
Since it was formed in 2001, NOAC has had three different gas suppliers. Frye estimates the aggregation has saved participants more than $21 million compared to Columbia Gas supply prices.
The NOAC program for electrical service has saved more than $100 million, he said.