The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) is a governmental energy aggregator in Ohio supplying electricity and natural gas for more than 20 years to hundreds of thousands of residential and small business accounts in over 200 communities in 19 counties statewide.

Energy aggregation brings residents and small businesses together to gain group buying power for the purchase of competitively priced electric and/or natural gas from a retail supplier certified by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).

Over 200 Ohio communities are members of NOPEC's electric and natural gas aggregation programs. If your community is a member, that means residents in your community voted to join an aggregation program for your electric and/or natural gas. Your community leaders chose NOPEC as the aggregation supplier.

If you live in a NOPEC member community, you are automatically enrolled, unless you choose not to be. Ohio has what is called an “opt-out” aggregation process. This means all eligible residents and small businesses in a member community are sent an enrollment letter notifying them of their eligibility. After being notified, they are automatically enrolled into the aggregation program unless they choose not to be by returning the opt-out card enclosed with their enrollment letter. Enrollment letters are sent to every eligible electric customer every three years.

As a consumer-focused organization, NOPEC operates and advocates for what’s best for our communities and customers. As we looked at the price forecasts following the invasion of Ukraine, it became increasingly apparent that being on the SSO rate would result in our customers paying less for their electricity through May 2023.

We’re not predicting the future. What we do know with certainty is the locked-in SSO rate will be reset in mid-2023 and is likely to be more reflective of current market rates. This means that NOPEC’s electricity rate likely will again be competitive with the utility rate.

When the SSO rates increase this year, as we anticipate, we expect our customers will return to NOPEC to again receive the many benefits of our aggregation.

These were unprecedented conditions around energy prices and we took the unprecedented step of turning 550,000 electric customers back to the lower SSO price. We believe the future SSO rates will more closely reflect current market pricing moving forward making this kind of price disparity much less likely in the future.

NOPEC has also added additional measures to our negotiating process to ensure we can deliver competitive electric rates for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of residential and small business customers in the communities we serve.

Eligible residents will receive enrollment letters this Spring. This letter will provide information about the aggregation program, including available price options.

Eligible residents and small business owners don't need to do anything! You will automatically be enrolled into NOPEC’s program and do not need to take any further action to receive exclusive member pricing for your home or business. This makes it easy and convenient for you to take advantage of being a member of your community's aggregation.

All eligible customers have the option to opt-out of the aggregation program. If you decide to opt-out of your community's aggregation and choose your own electric supplier, you must fill out and return the opt-out form attached to your enrollment letter.

READ THE FINE PRINT CLOSELY. Some for-profit energy suppliers are using this uncertainty to their own advantage. Residents and small businesses should be especially wary of energy offers that sound too good to be true. Most are deceptive and have costly consequences. For example, a solicitor seeking your business may ask to see your utility bill or ask for your account number to “compare rates.” Consumers should NEVER share their utility bill or account information with anyone that contacts them unprompted and should review the fine print very carefully before signing any contract.