ASHLAND — Ashland city and county officials encouraged residents to double check their electric bills ahead of a scheduled hike in distribution costs.
Starting in June, customers in Ashland buying electricity directly from FirstEnergy Corp. will see their rates more than double — that is, unless they choose a separate provider or take part in a government bulk-buying group.
The average weighted base price in June will increase to at least 10.1 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) from a current price of 5.3 cents/kwh.
In the city of Ashland, the base price of 5.6 cents/kwh will increase to 12.7 cents/kwh, a 126% increase.
The city has negotiated its own rate of 4.6 cents/kwh under a government aggregation program with Dynegy, which is available to residents of Ashland.
Dynegy is a retail electricity supplier.
“If you’ve lived here for some time, you’re probably already enrolled in our aggregation program,” said Ashland Mayor Matt Miller.
But for people who have moved into the city in recent months, Miller encouraged them to check their electric bills to make sure they are enrolled in the aggregation program.
Ashland councilwoman Angela Woodward said the information can be found in the middle of their electric bills.
They can also call 1-888-682-2170.
The city’s aggregation program with Dynegy is set to expire in October. At that point, the base rate could increase to around 7 cents/kwh, Miller said.
“So ours will likely go up in this fall, but it will not go up to the level that you would experience if you don’t participate in our aggregation program,” Miller said.
The price is based on a series of three competitive auctions of suppliers throughout the year monitored by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and blended into a price for the next year. FirstEnergy does not make a profit on the price, which is determined by the auction, and passed along to consumers, FirstEnergy has said.
Joe Jakubick, an account executive for FirstEnergy, explained during a Thursday Ashland County Board of Commissioners meeting what exactly customers will pay for under the price increase.
He said Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. company, charges customers both for distribution and generation of electricity unless customers are part of a government aggregation program.
“We do not own generation, so we have to go buy it from suppliers to be able to provide it to the customer,” he said. “So it’s not an Ohio Edison increase, it’s not. It’s a generation increase.”
