City Council Event--Electric Aggregation Hearing

Think we got something wrong? Send any enquiries on the meeting or these tweets to @cledocumenters or email us at cledocumenters@gmail.com

The whole city’s talking about it: @FirstEnergy rate hikes. Signal Cleveland’s @NickCastele explains the contract and what it means for #Cleveland customers here:
https://signalcleveland.org/cleveland-to-join-new-electric-aggregator-but-delays-could-cost-firstenergy-customers/

Ward 16 Council Member @kazy_brian is leading the hearings. He’s joined by representatives from @SOPECenergy, including Executive Director Luke Sulfridge, who will lead the presentation on the company. https://t.co/W6yPQ60j2V

Here is the anticipated timeline of @SOPECenergy‘s energy choice program. https://t.co/GHmHcpfNih

Customers will automatically be enrolled in this program unless they choose to opt out. Sulfridge explains more about how the company works. https://t.co/0ffqv4a80I

Sulfridge says they saved their customers around $13-million dollars last year. You can find current member communities here:
https://www.sopec-oh.gov/communities

https://t.co/pa1LrGDcV4

Sulfridge is explaining this is as lateral move, just a switch in providers. https://t.co/Z1szIHgtmm

Customers served by @clepublicpower will not be eligible for the program.

SOPEC’s selected supplier is AEP Energy.
https://www.aepenergy.com/

https://t.co/uzvwHcI5KJ

Here’s the envelopes customers can expect to begin receiving allowing them to opt out of the aggregate program. https://t.co/rH0UEF2Hxv

Kazy wants to know what the final price is. Sulfridge says they don’t have that number finalised yet, but that it will be lower than originally anticipated because the market has improved. https://t.co/3mJXdnOeQP

Kazy says @CleCityCouncil has “a lot of reservations” about approving this legislation without knowing the concrete price. First Energy prices will rise to around 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour as compared to the around 7-cent area SOPEC is estimating.

@CleCityCouncil Kazy wants to know about the relationship between SOPEC and @AEPenergy. SOPEC Attorney Phil Leppla says SOPEC is AEP’s exclusive governmental aggregator in the state of Ohio.

Ward 13 Council Member @KrisHarsh, who is off-camera, is questioning the logic of the “middleman” service SOPEC is providing by selling AEP’s energy to Cleveland. Leppla says they are providing a service to the community rather than a brokering. https://t.co/0WilLNeyzb

Harsh asks about green energy and renewables. Kazy wants to know why SOPEC has an exclusive supplier. Leppla explains their vetting process & says comparison reporting helps hold AEP accountable on pricing.

Leppla reiterates that they consider SOPEC to be an organization providing a service to communities, not a company, and that they don’t operate like a company.

Sulfridge and Leppla tell Harsh that they will have staff to deal with complaints and needed adjustments, including a director for Cleveland. https://t.co/N3ppewgIvw

Y’all didn’t even say goodbye!
Kazy wrapped up the questioning, just him and Harsh, and said they were done a few minutes early & they’d be back tomorrow at 4 ?? I don’t know if that’s a separate meeting or what, I’ll have to look into that. And then the video feed ended.

Learn how to apply for help with your electric bill here with this @signalcleveland guide:
https://signalcleveland.org/how-to-apply-for-help-with-for-your-electric-bill/

This concludes my coverage of today’s Public Hearings for @cledocumenters. Keep up with all local government happenings on our website at https://signalcleveland.org/governmentmeetings/.