Brecksville Residents Could Be Paying More for Electricity in 2017

BRECKSVILLE , OH - Brecksville is one of the dozens of communities that will be impacted by the early termination of the contract between Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) and FirstEnergy Solutions. For the past three years, the deal between the two organizations has meant a savings of 6 percent off for residents and 4 percent off for small businesses on electricity bills. Those savings will likely disappear come Jan. 1, 2017.

NOPEC is a not-for-profit council of governments that was created in 2000 to create an energy “aggregator” that could help communities negotiate better deals on electricity and natural gas.

On Jan. 1, 2010, FirstEnergy Solutions entered into a nine-year contract with NOPEC to supply electricity to NOPEC customers. As a result of that deal, NOPEC residential customers saved 6 percent and commercial customers saved 4 percent on the generation portion of their electric bills, compared with what they would have been paying to a utility.

Negotiations between NOPEC and FirstEnergy crumbled Oct. 28, 2016 and the company notified NOPEC that it would be ending its contract three years early. The two are now embroiled in a lawsuit over who-owes-what-to-who.

While the contract did run through 2019, it also gave both sides the option to exit early. NOPEC says it expects to have a new service provider selected in the near future.

No one will experience interruptions in their service, so don't fear sudden blackouts in 2017. It does mean that you will return to the default provider unless you choose a different company.

"I want to particularly emphasize that there will be no disruption in service to any NOPEC customer.NOPEC was shocked and dismayed by the sudden demand for unilateral contract concessions made by FirstEnergy Solutions and disappointed by the equally sudden contract termination,” Chuck Keiper, NOPEC's executive director, said.

Among the concerns cited by Keiper was the desire to continue holding adequate security for the supply of electricity to NOPEC customers. This was a particular concern amid numerous published news reports raising the possibility of FirstEnergy Solutions filing for bankruptcy

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