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Option may add new money-saving electricity choice, voters decide with Nov. 4 ballot
By Jackie Mooney, Staff Writer
Registered voters in the City of Oxford will soon have the opportunity to vote on Issue 2, which proposes a third electric option for residents that may save them money.
On Nov. 4, voters will decide whether to add this third option, called an electric aggregation program.
Currently, there are two electric options in the City of Oxford: Duke Energy and the Ohio Electric Choice Program. If Issue 2 passes, Oxford will move forward with plans to add the third option.
Duke Energy serves residents with electricity unless they choose to do the Ohio Electric Choice Program independently. If they choose the Ohio Electric Choice Program, they are allowed to choose an electric supplier on their own from a price comparison list called Apples to Apples that The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio provides.
The proposed third option would be an electric aggregation program that allows residents of Oxford to join together to form a group that will purchase all of their electricity from the same lowest-cost supplier.
City Manager Douglas Elliot called this "buying power" - when groups of people all buy from one supplier to get a low price.
"Issue 2 allows the city to collect everyone's load, then go out and get an electric rate for everyone that is hopefully lower than current rates," Elliot said.
The city plans to hold two public hearings on Issue 2's approval in order to gain public feedback.
"At that stage in the process we will decide if we want a renewable energy component added to the program. This will be something we will have to discuss with the community in order to choose a supplier everybody is happy with," Elliot said.
A program plan will be created and then a notice will be sent to all area residents. The notice will provide the choice to opt-out if residents do not want to be included in the program. If they do not opt-out, they will automatically be a part of the electric aggregation program that is being voted on in Issue 2.
"I haven't heard of anyone in opposition of the program," City of Oxford Service Director Mike Dreisbach said. "I think voters will be in support of the program when it is put to vote simply because Issue 2 provides more electric options for residents. More options are good; providing the city with more flexibility."
If Issue 2 passes, the program is expected to go into full effect May 2015.
Elliot uses the Ohio Electric Choice Program himself and said he saves about half a cent per kilowatt-hour of electricity he uses.
Each year he guesses it saves him approximately 50 dollars and that with a new option he hopes to save even more each year.
"If the residents of a house use 9,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year and we are only able to save them a penny per kilowatt-hour with this new option, then they are still saving 90 dollars a year," Elliot said. "We won't know how much money we can save residents until Issue 2 is approved and we begin looking for rates, but as college students, why not save a little money?"