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Discounts on home-heating costs may be on hold in Reynoldsburg
City-led discounts on home-heating costs may be on hold in Reynoldsburg this winter as the dust settles on regulatory changes.
For the past six years, Reynoldsburg residents have had the option to participate in a guaranteed cost savings program for their natural gas through a government aggregation contract with Interstate Gas Supply (IGS). According to a news release from the city of Reynoldsburg, the benefit for those who opted-in has been a savings of $0.035 per ccf less than Columbia Gas of Ohio’s gas cost recovery rate.
While this program has been beneficial due to its fluctuating versus fixed rate, the upcoming regulatory changes create a questionable market for the next few months, according to the release.
“Regulatory changes are set to occur in spring of 2010 that would directly affect the city’s ability to offer a guaranteed savings," Reynoldsburg Development Director Lucas Haire said in the news release. "So, when it came time to renegotiate our annual contract, we researched the market and discovered that none of the gas suppliers were able to guarantee a cost savings to Reynoldsburg residents on their gas service next year. Based on that information, we felt it was in our best interest to discontinue the aggregation program at least until spring of 2010 after regulatory changes at the state level take place.”
The city received a notice of termination from IGS after terms could not be agreed upon that allow for a guaranteed savings on natural gas for Reynoldsburg residents. This notice, received at the end of October, was in compliance with the agreed initial contract, allowing for a two-month notice of termination, according to the news release.
According to Haire in the release, residents will not be required to do anything to eliminate the contracts that they have with IGS. All 5,926 households in Reynoldsburg that currently participate in the aggregation program will be converted back to Columbia Gas of Ohio customers, with no interruption in service or change in billing.
The city hopes to submit a request for proposals to gas suppliers in the spring of 2010 to restart an aggregation program in an effort to allow Reynoldsburg residents the option of continuing to save on their natural gas costs, the news release says.
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