MASSILLON – Residents and small businesses enrolled in the city’s electricity aggregation program will soon see a significant price hike.
The rate will jump from 4.2 cents to 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour starting with June meter readings, according to Tony Ramos, relationship manager of the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC). People should first see the increase in their July electric bill.
Last December, City Council approved Massillon’s joining the NOPEC, an alliance of governments based in Solon made up of around 250 cities, villages and townships. Alliance joined in 2017. North Canton and Paris Township have also agreed to take part.
Residents and business owners can opt out of NOPEC and choose their own supplier. Letters started being mailed out by the energy group a few weeks ago alerting customers of electric rate changes. Residents can shop for rates at Ohio’s Energy Choice (Apples to Apples) site: https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ApplesToApplesCategory.aspx?Category=Electric
Renee Baker
The deadline to opt out is May 7. But if missed, people can still decline at anytime with no penalty after enrollment with NOPEC starts to find their own service provider, Ramos said.
Enrolled customers can call NOPEC at 1-855-667-3201 to opt out. Customers not enrolled can join at any time.
Most Massillon residents impacted by electric rate change
The electric rate change will affect many of the city’s approximately 32,400 residents and an unspecified number of small businesses, said city Safety-Service Director Renee Baker.
“The city did take a hard look at who we thought would be the best (partner),” Baker said. “NOPEC offered the best pricing to us.”
Massillon voters gave the city the green light for an electric aggregate program in a 2009 ballot initiative, Baker said.
Rates are slated to be re-evaluated in December, and another adjustment could come in January 2026, said Ramos, adding that transmission and distribution fees are part of monthly bills.
Rate hike: ‘People are going to be in shock.’ North Canton aggregation electric costs to soar
Many Stark communities secured lower electricity supply rates in 2021. Those costs are expiring this year amid soaring electricity rates, fueled in part by additional technology centers to drive artificial intelligence and perform massive computing tasks.
Plain Township, North Canton and other communities have seen electric aggregation rates jump.
Market changes and higher grid demand are other factors for rate rises, Ramos said.
The electricity supply rates are different from the rates charged by American Electric Power (AEP) and Ohio Edison for distribution and transmission, which are regulated by the PUCO.
Reach Steven Grazier at steven.grazier@indeonline.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @sgrazierINDE
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Massillon electric rates to jump in June for residents, small business