By: Bill O’Connell
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
An unusually large number of Delta residents attended the Delta Village Council meeting on 9/19/16 to participate in a question and answer session with Palmer Energy of Toledo regarding electrical power rate options that would be available with the government aggregation the Village voters passed during last November’s election.
Palmer Energy, an energy consulting firm, sent representative Amy Hoffman to the meeting to give a presentation then field questions from the audience as well as the Council. Ms. Hoffman explained that the service her company offers is to “shop” around on behalf of the Delta customers to get the best rates possible from other power suppliers.
Nine separate suppliers have already been contacted and quotes of fixed and variable prices is expected soon. These prices will be offered to Delta residents on contracts that will be for 12, 24 or 36 months in length.
“We will compile all the results, put together a very thorough presentation back to council and we’ll explain our recommendation,” said Ms. Hoffman. “What that will show them exactly is what each offer was from every supplier. We will show what the energy costs are, what the tax costs are and what makes the most sense.”
Village Administrator Brad Peebles related the Village’s experience buying power in a similar fashion. “I will tell you that the Village of Delta has been buying power on the open market the last several years,” he stated. “I can tell you that last year in our efforts to save money we went out to bid and received proposals from four different companies and this year we saved in excess of $15,000 versus what we would typically would have bought from First Energy Solutions.”
Some residents already have contracts with suppliers and would not be eligible to participate in this program. All other users will be given the option to stay with their current provider, First Energy Solutions, or opt out of the program’s recommendation. Residents will receive a letter explaining their choices and the program is scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of 2017. Overall, the average savings per household is estimated to be between 40 and 50 dollars.
In other Council business, a resolution declaring it necessary to levy a tax in excess of the 10-mil limitation to accommodate the operational levy for the Delta Police Department passed on its third reading. A Village ordinance authorizing Administrator Brad Peebles to enter an agreement with OH Exchange Facilities Networks for a broadband communications tower to be placed on Village property was also passed on its third reading. The tower location would be in the Wood Street parking lot next to Memorial Hall.
A resolution authorizing Mr. Peebles to enter an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the inspection of bridges under the control of Delta for the calendar years of 2017, 2018 and 2019 was passed with a second reading.
Another resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county auditor was passed with an emergency second reading.
The next Delta Village Council Meeting is scheduled for 10/3/16 at 7:00 PM in Memorial Hall.
Bill O’Connell may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com