Commissioners updated on electric rates, WIOA program

Richland County government will be in good shape for the next 21 months on the price it pays for electricity despite recent steep hikes that were announced last month by the area’s energy service suppliers. However, several of the county’s townships are expected to see increases of 30% to 40% when new aggregation agreements are developed later this year, according to Amy Hoffman of Palmer Energy, who works with utility aggregation for the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

Hoffman told county commissioners during an update meeting on Tuesday that the county currently is paying 5.08 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity used at county-owned buildings and facilities under the current aggregation program that runs until May of 2025. The current rate for Franklin, Mifflin and Sandusky townships, which are participating in the county aggregation, is even lower at 4.408 cents per kilowatt hour, although their contracts expire in December.

Hoffman said Ohio Edison and American Electric Power, the two major electric companies that serve Richland County, close to doubled their “price to compare” rates last month. The AEP rate went to 11.7 cents per kilowatt hour while the Ohio Edison rate is now 12 cents per kilowatt hour.

The “price to compare” rate is the rate consumers pay if they are not part of an aggregation plan or consumer choice program and purchase their energy directly from the public utility.

“We saw it coming. We’ve been talking about it. It’s been a very busy year of putting electric aggregation on ballots,” Hoffman said, noting that energy generation represents about 40% of an individual utility bill.

New contract for townships, other changes ahead

Hoffman said Palmer will be going out within the next month for pricing for the next contract for the townships. She noted that if those contracts were to be priced today the cost for electricity would be in the range of 6 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour.

Hoffman also presented commissioners with two proposed contract changes including one that would pool all counties that participate in the CCAO electric aggregation program into large pools involving facilities of like size and demand similar to what currently is done with natural gas aggregation.

“We believe that will help the cost make a better price for our clients — for our counties — because we’ll have larger pools with small facilities in one pool, buildings like this (courthouse/administration building) in another and buildings like a jail in a third group,” she explained.

Any changes would not be made until Richland County’s agreement expires in 2025.

Hoffman said Palmer is also looking for a 40% increase in the millage fee it charges to administer the aggregation program.

"We’ve never raised our rate. It’s always been the same and I believe we’ve been doing this for 13 or 14 years as the consultant for the CCAO,” she said.

Commissioners will review the proposed changes before taking any action.

Commissioners updated on Area 10 Workforce Board

Commissioners also met Tuesday with Clint Knight, director of workforce development for Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development, for the annual certification of the Area 10 Workforce Board, which oversees programs in Richland and Crawford Counties under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The Chamber and Economic Development has been overseeing WIOA programs following administrative changes in the program over the past year.

Knight said officials have worked with the board of governors, which is made up of the commissioners of Richland and Crawford Counties, to re-establish initiatives and direction for the board and to insure that the board has the right representation to meet legal requirements and have adequate representation from both counties.

“We’re required to have 51% business. We’ve achieved that and we’re meeting everything on the checklist as far as our membership goes,” he said.

Knight also told commissioners that the Area 10 Board has been awarded a nearly $100,000 state grant for outreach and is working to implement that strategy to educate businesses as to how the WIOA Board can help them “upskill,” retain and attract new employees to make sure they have the people they need to execute their business.

Goals include increasing inquiries to Ohio Means Jobs Centers as well as the number of businesses using on the job training contracts and the number of individuals entering training in order to provide training for jobs that offer sustaining wages and a career pathway and to develop the workforce for manufacturing and IT.

Contracts approved, new MARCS tower now live

In other business, commissioners awarded a $480,368 contract to Kokosing Construction to resurface 3.481 miles of roads including Millsboro Road from Ohio 314 to Lexington-Ontario Road and Cook Road from Griebling Road to Trimble Road. The engineer’s estimate was $506,992.

The board also approved a contract between the Crestview School District and the Sheriff’s Office to provide a school resource officer at a cost of $58,336.

Commissioner Tony Vero reported that Verizon cell phone service went live Monday from the county’s Multi Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) tower in Lucas following several years of effort to get good cell service to the village.

“I’m receiving text messages from people in the (Lucas) school, at the library with Mayor Hall and the fiscal director Patty Konstam sending us notes that this is a good thing for Lucas and good for safety services,” he said.

Vero said Verizon officials told him they are in the “optimization” phase, which means there could be some brief service disruptions, although they are expected to be minimal.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County commissioners updated on electric aggregation, WIOA