NOPEC, the state’s largest consortium of communities, has reached a new deal for an electricity provider after FirstEnergy Solutions abruptly canceled its contract early.
NextEra Energy Services Ohio will be the new supplier, effective in January when the canceled contract expires for the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, the organization said on Monday.
On Oct. 28, NOPEC’s current electricity supplier, Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions, canceled its deal serving 500,000 customers three years before it was to expire. The two parties are now locked in a legal battle.
FirstEnergy Solutions said it was paying fees to NOPEC that were higher than any other contracts and electricity prices have fallen in the six years since the two inked their nine-year deal.
NOPEC reached a new three-year agreement with NextEra. The supplier is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, a major provider of solar and wind power and part of Florida-based FPL Group Inc.
NextEra was also the electricity provider for NOPEC before the FirstEnergy Solutions deal and is currently NOPEC’s electricity provider for the American Electric Power territory, said NOPEC Executive Director Chuck Keiper.
“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship,” Keiper said. “This is a world-class clean energy company, and we know that NOPEC electricity customers will be in very capable hands.”
NOPEC customers should expect to receive their opt-out notices for service under the new program in the new few weeks, officials said. As part of a governmental aggregation, they will automatically be included unless they opt out.
Under the agreement, customers will receive initial pricing from January through the summer high-demand period “that will generate savings comparable to the expiring NOPEC contract savings,” officials said, noting that pricing is market-based and has not yet been set. After the initial price period, customers will receive a variable rate based on “favorable wholesale purchase prices then available on the market.” There will be no cancellation fees.
Customers also will have the option to choose a variable rate that would mirror the existing contract — guaranteeing a 6 percent discount to consumers and a 4 percent discount to small businesses off electric prices charged by utilities Ohio Edison and the Illuminating Co. That rate will be available for 10,000 customers.
“Our focus and goal since our recent contract termination has been to quickly find a supplier so the power and savings would keep flowing to NOPEC customers as seamlessly as possible,” Keiper said. “But we also knew it was crucial to find a financially strong company that was first-in-class among energy suppliers.”
On Friday, officials at FirstEnergy Solutions’ parent company, FirstEnergy Corp., said it is undertaking a “strategic review” of its competitive generation business that could lead to selling off as many as 13 power plants, including its three nuclear plants, where nearly 3,000 people work. FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones said the generation portion of the business is weighing down the rest of the company.
NOPEC is a consortium of more than 200 governments, including some communities in northern Summit County, such as Twinsburg and Macedonia, and Portage County.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty