Trustees seek broker for gas supplier

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Natural gas prices change all the time.

AUSTINTOWN — Residents decided at the polls that they want trustees to find a good bulk rate for natural gas, so trustees have started to shop for a broker.

Trustees plan to use a broker to get the best deal possible for all township residents, though people who want to opt out of the program will be able to do so.

Two brokers, Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council and Buckeye Energy Brokers Inc. made presentations to trustees at a special meeting Monday.

NOPEC, which includes 120 communities, works with supplier Dominion Retail, said its executive director Leigh Herington.

There's a wait

One drawback, said the trustees, is that the township would have to wait until January 2008 to join.

Herington said NOPEC's general assembly would have to vote on allowing the township in, and the general assembly doesn't meet again until next November. Herington said, though, that there is a possibility of a special meeting midyear.

"We didn't envision waiting that long," said Trustee David Ditzler.

Trustee Bo Pritchard brought up the possibility of signing with Buckeye, which could be done in March, and then joining NOPEC next fall.

Herington said the difficulty with natural gas prices is that they are so speculative.

"You want to provide the best price for your constituents," he said.

He said NOPEC had to lock in with Dominion Retail by Oct. 31 to get a rate of $10.12 per 1,000 cubic feet for March through September 2007.

Buckeye's price

By contrast, Buckeye, which negotiates among six to seven suppliers, is offering an indicative market price of $9.68 for that same time period.

Buckeye includes 30 communities throughout Ohio, many of them in Stark County, said its president Thomas Bellish.

Trustees said they are going to consider the information in each proposal. They might be prepared to make a choice at the Monday meeting, said board chairwoman Lisa Oles.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006