Energy costs can be tricky. So when you open your bill and realize that you have automatically enrolled in NOPEC — a company you may not be familiar with — it can be easy to think you’re getting slammed.  But rest assured that NOPEC was chosen by your community leaders to be the electric and/or natural gas supplier to residents and small businesses in your community.

Unlike for-profit retailers, NOPEC is a governmental opt-out aggregation that enables your community to join hundreds of other communities, using that collective buying power to purchase energy as a group. It’s an easy and cost-effective way for residents and small business owners to stabilize their utility bills while supporting their local community. However, the energy aggregation enrollment process is unique and can be difficult to understand, causing some people to believe that they were signed up by mistake. Not to worry – it’s no mistake.  Your community leaders specifically chose NOPEC because it provides competitive utility rates without the tricky contracts, making it the safe choice against for-profit energy suppliers.

We break down the benefits of NOPEC energy aggregation, why you were automatically enrolled in the program, and how your participation impacts your monthly utility costs and your community.

What Does NOPEC Stand For?

Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council

Who is NOPEC?

NOPEC is a non-profit group of over 240 communities in 20 Ohio counties that negotiates lower utility rates. As Ohio’s largest governmental retail aggregation, NOPEC provides competitive pricing to residents and small businesses by buying electricity and natural gas in bulk on behalf of our 950,000 customers. In addition to saving Ohioans hundreds of millions of dollars since 2001, we also:

• Advocate for consumers in hearings that directly impact energy regulation and rates on your utility bills.
• Invest in our communities by providing grants, customer education programs, and small business energy-efficiency financing.
• Help you reduce energy consumption with our monthly Energy Connection newsletter, maintenance reminders, and valuable, cost-saving energy tips.

Why is NOPEC on My Utility Bill?

Your community leaders chose NOPEC to be your hometown’s default energy supplier through a ballot process. Here’s how it works:

1. The process starts when community leaders put up an issue on the ballot for residents to vote whether they’d like their community to adopt governmental opt-out electric or natural gas aggregation.
2. Voters authorize governmental opt-out aggregation for their community.
3. Community leaders choose the energy aggregator of their choice.
4. Once community leaders adopt a plan for energy aggregation, each eligible electricity and/or natural gas customer will receive a mail notification that they will be automatically enrolled in the aggregation unless they choose to not participate or “opt-out”.
5. If the residential or small business customer does not choose to opt-out, they are automatically enrolled in NOPEC’s electric or natural gas aggregation program. NOPEC will then start providing the electricity or natural gas supply that the customer uses and, therefore, will appear on the customer’s utility bill.

Is NOPEC an Extra Charge on My Utility Bill?

NOPEC is not an extra charge on your utility bill. In Ohio, all utility bills are split into two costs:

• Supplier Charge: A supplier charge is the price of electricity or natural gas offered by an energy supplier. NOPEC is listed on your bill as your supplier charge and includes the cost of the natural gas or electricity that you have used for that billing period.
• Transmission Charge: A transmission charge is a cost of transporting the electricity or natural gas from the generation plant to your home or business. Your utility company will be listed as your transmission charge.

Even if you do not choose to remain with NOPEC for your energy supply, you would still have to pay an energy supplier for the amount of energy you use each month.

Protect yourself from energy rate volatility. NOPEC offers competitive electricity and natural gas rates and a variety of fixed-term and variable products to fit your budget and needs. Check rates here.

Tags: NOPEC, Energy Aggregation, Energy Supplier, Energy Bill
Categories: Consumer Questions