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TORONTO -- Toronto officials have received many questions during the past several weeks about the city's utility aggregation programs.
At its March 10 meeting, Toronto Council heard from John Ney, owner of Regor Energy Corp. of Clinton, Ohio, who answered questions about the city's electric and natural gas aggregation programs.
Council has supported agreements for Regor Energy to negotiate for lower electric and natural gas rates for the city's customers, with the agreements requiring support from voters in past elections.
But in recent weeks, city officials have received many questions about the programs, citing a large increase in their bills.
Ney said, "Several factors are contributing to higher energy costs. The largest ones include supply-and-demand dynamics and regulatory factors."
"Increases due to population and business growth and weather conditions, combined with limited supply from older plants, have driven generation prices higher," he said.
Ney noted there is greater demand for electricity from developing data centers, while stricter environmental regulations have led to the closing of coal-fired plants like the W.H. Sammis Plant in Stratton.
"When energy prices had risen, our electricity supplier (Energy Harbor) was obligated to offer the same low rate for the term of the contract to customers. Many Toronto residents and small business owners took advantage of these low rates even though energy costs had risen," said Ney.
Ney said that the agreement has since expired and a new one has been negotiated for a 12-month term found to have the lowest rates in comparison to others.
"Both electric and natural gas agreements are for a 12-month term with the hope of energy prices falling, both electric and gas, soon," he said.
Copies of the opt-out letters have been filed by Regor Energy with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Dated Jan. 28, the letter for natural gas states it will be supplied by Interstate Gas Supply, also known as IGS Energy, from Columbia Gas of Ohio.
It states the utility will be provided at a fixed rate of 0.676 per CCF through March 2026.
Those wishing to opt out may do so by returning the form mailed to them or calling IGS at (877) 353-0162 or Columbia Gas of Ohio, which will send a notice indicating the transfer to IGS as retail supplier.
The deadline to opt out was Feb. 27.
Customers who choose to remain in the program need not do anything and will be enrolled until the November 2026 billing period.
Dated Feb. 17, the letter for electricity states it also will be supplied by IGS, with American Electric Power as the producer, at a fixed rate of 50,000 KHW per year or less through April 2026.
Those wishing to opt out may do so by returning the form mailed to them or calling IGS or American Electric Power, which also will send a notice indicating the transfer to IGS as retail supplier.
Customers who choose to remain in the program also need not do anything and will be enrolled until the November 2026 billing period.
The deadline to opt out is March 19.
Matt Schilling, a spokesman for PUCO, said under those agreements, there are no fees to switch to IGS or revert back to Columbia Gas of Ohio or American Electric Power.
A comparison of rates charged by electric and natural gas providers for various time periods can be found at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's website at https://www.energychoice.ohio.gov/ApplestoApples.aspx.
Not automatically enrolled in the aggregation programs are customers who are in the Percentage of Income Payment Plan, through which they qualify for lower rates because their income is at 175 percent of the federal poverty income guideline or those who have signed up for PUCO's Do Not Aggregate list.