There being five (5) yea votes and no (0) nay votes thereon, said ordinance was declared duly passed and it was so ordered.

A copy of the resolution, having been placed on the desks of each member of Council prior to introduction, was read by title.

Mrs. Turben explained this is a resolution for the city of Oakwood to join the electric supply aggregation program recently launched by the Miami Valley Communications Council (“MVCC”).

With the move to deregulate public utilities in the early 2000s, which was intended to promote competition and lower costs, there have been two ways for utility customers to obtain electric or natural gas supply. The default is to pay the “standard choice offer” rate charged by the utility company that delivers electricity and natural gas in their area, which for Oakwood is AES for electricity and CenterPoint for natural gas. The alternative is to sign up with a third-party supplier, which can be done on an individual basis or via a governmental aggregation program. These programs allow cities to negotiate competitive rates with third-party suppliers who provide electricity or natural gas to retail utility customers. In 2003, Oakwood voters authorized the city to participate in utility aggregation, if a suitable program became available.

Currently, Oakwood does not have its own aggregation program but is a member of MVCC, which is in the process of developing aggregation programs for both electricity and natural gas. MVCC’s electric aggregation program is currently up and running, and the natural gas program is anticipated to begin this fall. As an MVCC member community, Oakwood is permitted to join these programs. The advantage of joining MVCC is the larger group size, which gives additional bargaining leverage due to economies of scale.

MVCC’s program is primarily offered on an OPT-OUT basis, which means residents in participating communities are automatically enrolled in the program unless they take affirmative steps to opt-out. However, communities may also join on an OPT-IN basis, meaning that no one is enrolled automatically; they must enroll themselves. Oakwood City Council has discussed this extensively in work sessions and believes that the best approach for our city is to join on an OPT-IN basis. In this way, individual residents will make their own deliberate choice on whether to: 1) opt into the MVCC program; 2) stay with the “standard choice offer”; or 3) choose their own third-party supplier.

In order to join the MVCC program, state law requires Council to hold two public hearings and approve the Plan of Operation and Governance for the MVCC electric aggregation program. This resolution is being introduced tonight and will then hold the first public hearing. The second public hearing and vote on the resolution will be held at Council’s August 7 meeting.

Mayor Duncan explained the public hearing procedure. He then asked Law Director Rob Jacques to comment on the MVCC aggregation program.

Mr. Jacques shared that electric deregulation happened in the early 2000s. Before the deregulation, a single payment for delivery and supply (infrastructure) was made to local monopolies, such as Dayton Power & Light. Deregulation allowed consumers to unbundle their services and pay for delivery (hardware) and supply (electricity) separately. Even though aggregation has been available, many communities determined that there was not a need for aggregation until recently when the supply costs rose substantially. Energy consumers have the option to choose where they purchase their electricity. They can continue with their current service provider, choose a new provider, or participate in a government aggregation program. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s “Apples to Apples” website tool provides a comparison of current natural gas and electric supplier price options and contract terms from a variety of third-party natural gas and electricity sellers. A governmental aggregation program can be an effective way for a large group of consumers to get exclusive pricing on their utility services. The Ohio Municipal League (OML) and MVCC partnered with Palmer Energy Company to build and manage a governmental electric aggregation program. The program will initially be a two-year contract period, including the remainder of this year and then 2024 and 2025 with a locked-in rate. The provider chosen for this