Palmer provides energy option for Wyandot Co. residents

The Wyandot County Commissioners are trying to do what they can to aid county residents and they know just how to do it — save them money.
Bill Bradish, of Palmer Energy, stopped by and spoke with the commissioners Thursday morning to offer a way to save money in electric costs.
“We’re in a pool of natural gas with our counties and they handle that,” Commissioner Steve Seitz said. “They’re looking at a possibility of coming to Wyandot County to handle people’s electric. Basically, people will vote on it, depending when it comes together, by township or municipality, not by the entire county. It would be up to those entities whether they put it on the ballot.”
Seitz said the initial agreement would be for two years with the possibility of two more two-year cycles at a $5.85 per kilowatt savings for most residents.
The savings only include the generation portion of the bill, as American Electric Power still will transmit the electricity.
“Of where we’re at right now, it would be about a 20 percent savings on just the generation,” he said.
Even if accepted, residents still may choose to opt out of the agreement.
“If you sign up, you can always opt out, but sometimes there are fees to opt out early,” Seitz said. “All we as the commissioners are doing is agreeing to let the townships and municipalities choose to put it on the ballot if they want to or not.”
Hired by the County Commissioner’s Association of Ohio, Bradish said the agreement already has been passed by 40 percent of the state’s counties.
Seitz said that for every residence that accepts the terms, the township or municipality will receive grant funding of $10 per meter, to be split up based on where the accepting residents are.
The savings of the electric are the outcome of the generation being deregulated and companies forced to bid for the service. First Energy won the bid.
Palmer Energy will be meeting with each township or municipality prior to it being on the ballot. In order to be on the ballot for the general election this fall, it must be approved by Aug. 7, according to Seitz. It will be placed on the respective areas’ ballots if accepted, although it may not be during the same election.
“It looks like a no-brainer,” Seitz said. “It seems like a win-win for the people.”

By PATRICK MASSARA
Staff writer

Posted by Daily Chief on May 11, 2012. Filed under Local News,Recent Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry