Electric rates are driven by market forces, and right now electric companies are having trouble meeting the demand, particularly with artificial intelligence data centers requiring enormous amounts of electricity, said Trustee Dan Suttles. That’s why the new rate in Brookfield’s electric aggregation program is going up so dramatically, he said.
For residents who are in the electric aggregation program, the user rate will go up from 5.975 cents per kilowatt hour to 9.15 cents – an increase of 65 percent – starting with the next meter read.
The trustees are sticking with AEP Energy, which has been the supplier. AEP has been awarded a one-year contract. Past contracts have been for 15 months to 3 years but the trustees hope rates will go down and a lower rate can be secured in a year, Suttles said.
“We were hoping that the rate would be lower, of course,” he said. “Our broker indicated that this was about as low as it was going to go. We had to make a move.”
The old, 15-month contract expires at the end of June.
Another company offered the same rate, Suttles said.
“We decided it would probably be better for our residents to stay with the same company,” he said. “At least, they’re familiar.”
Residents who have secured an electric supplier through the competitive market are not affected, but residents can opt in or out of the township’s program at any time for no cost.
“We think we got the best rate for our residents, but if there are better rates they have the opportunity, they can tap into that,” Suttles said.
Residents who are already part of the electric aggregation program do not have to do anything to stay with it. Opt-out letters have been sent to all customers.
Ohio Edison, which owns the infrastructure that gets electricity to homes, still will send bills to electric aggregation participants.
The township’s broker is Jay Sell of Aspen Energy Consultants.
As part of the contract, the township will receive a $15,000 grant from AEP to use as the trustees see fit. Past grants have been used to subsidize the street lighting program and toward projects such as installing an electronic gate at Brookfield Township Community Park and decorative fence at Brookfield Township Cemetery.
