Friday, June 5, 2015

Gas Aggregation Public Hearing

Last Monday’s Public Hearing on gas aggregation brought questions. The second Public Hearing is this Monday June 8 at 7p.m. City Hall. At the June 1 meeting, Council Representative Karen Leiske wanted to know how NOPEC would reach residents. This meeting was only attended by 5 citizens – all frequent visitors to council meetings, 2 news people, 5 council members and a council clerk and no one else from the community. She worried how others, especially seniors that are not on the internet are supposed to be well informed and clear on all of this – particularly the opt out choice. She asked why everything couldn’t stay the same and residents could opt in instead of having to opt out of the plan. The audience was assured an opt out letter will be sent to every bill payer and will be graphically detailed with q and a and terms and conditions. Leiske wants council to see the letter before it goes out.

Others asked when the gas is bought and at what prices, Charles Ramer from NOPEC explained their hedging strategy and the timing of how they buy in advance. He said they have “a pretty good sixth sense”.

Neither residents nor the city would be liable should the company go bankrupt.

You can opt out any time but, even if you opted in initially. You will only receive an opt out reminder every 2 years.

Nextera Energy is the parent company.

948 residents voted. According to the Board of Elections, there are approximately 11,000 registered voters in Bay with a population of approximately 16,000.

You can listen to the entire meeting here:

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