Residents who have not elected to contract their electric provider elsewhere should be receiving a letter from NOPEC regarding NOPEC electric enrollment. Also, those residents who have not contracted a gas supplier elsewhere will also receive a letter on the NOPEC natural gas enrollment.
Residents receiving letters do not need to do anything if they wish to remain in the NOPEC aggregation programs. If they wish to utilize another supplier, they must respond by mail, or by faxing the opt-out form to 440-774-4422, or call NOPEC’s Customer Care Center at 855-667-3201 to opt out of the program. Residents who have a contract with another carrier, but still received a letter, may want to contact NOPEC to ensure that the existing contract continues.
Last October, NOPEC officials published a statement, stating that it “believes that you will pay a lower price if you temporarily receive electricity through your electric utility during the next several months. As such, NOPEC is returning your account to the electric utility beginning with your next meter read, which may take one to two billing cycles. There is no action required by you and as a remind, you will not be charged a fee from NOPEC to make this change.” They noted that they planned to resume the program in the spring of 2023.
NOPEC Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, Dave Jankowski stated that NOPEC was competitive, but last year, the demand for gas, which effects electric prices, was going up. “When it became clear that this was not going to be a short-term issue, we made the difficult decision, where customers could get more competitive prices. It will be that way through May of 2023.” As of October 25, all customers were placed on the new rate until the spring of 2023. At that time, he added that it is NOPEC’s intent to re-solicit in the spring. That re-solicitation is taking place now in the form of letters sent to those eligible residents.
NOPEC was formed when voters agreed to appoint it as a negotiator for electricity, after the state deregulated the utility industry. The thought was that by communities gathering together and appointing one negotiator, it would then be able to negotiate a better price, securing lower rates. They are a non-profit natural gas and electric aggregation that claim to represent residents and businesses in northeast Ohio counties. North Royalton is one of over 240 communities that have NOPEC customers. Founded in 2000, NOPEC is an opt-out governmental aggregation. That means that if you have chosen to become a customer of NOPEC, you have to opt-out, or choose to leave, in order to go to another supplier.
For residents who wish to research various options for electric and natural gas suppliers, they can go to the “apples-to-apples” comparison chart, provided by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). That chart is located at www.energychoice.ohio.gov. The PUCO regulates providers of all kinds of utility services, including electric and natural gas companies and was created to assure adequate, safe and reliable public utility services at a fair price.
Residents who are interested in comparing various electric and natural gas rates and how they relate to the NOPEC rates, should look at the terms of the contracts that are being offered. Residents should pay attention to not only the rate offered, but if the rate is variable or fixed, the term of the contract and what, if any fees are charged for changing mid-contract, or if there are any other monthly fees.
Jankowski said that the enrollment letters are required by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to eligible natural gas customers every two years and eligible electric customers every three years normally. Because of the recent situation with the electric bills, the enrollments letters are being sent back-to-back. He also stated that if you missed the opt-out letter and you see on your monthly bill that you are back on NOPEC again, you can then call it and change. For more information, visit NOPEC’s website at www.nopecinfo.org or call 855-667-3201.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer