One week after a surprise split with its major electricity supplier, a non-profit energy aggregator serving half-a-million Ohioans says it’s found a replacement.
The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council or NOPEC negotiates discounted energy contracts for 200 communities across 13 Northern Ohio counties.
Last week, FirstEnergy Solutions backed out of a nine-year contract to provide electricity to NOPEC customers after negotiations broke down over certain fees.
Executive Director Chuck Keiper says the aggregator will likely announce a new supplier as early as Monday
“We should be able to present a new deal to our board of directors for their approval, which means we will, hopefully by the end of that day, have a new supply contract in place.”
Keiper says he’s confident the new provider is in a position to take over when FirstEnergy exits in January.
“This is a very financially strong company; they’re very familiar with electricity delivery in all kinds of reaches in the United States, and so we believe it will be totally seamless and that our members will be pleased.”
Meanwhile NOPEC remains embroiled in a lawsuit with FirstEnergy Solutions over the failed negotiations of the contract that was to continue through 2019.
NOPEC is the largest governmental retail energy aggregator in the U.S. FirstEnergy Solutions could not immediately be reached for comment.
