AUSTINTOWN — Residents would see an immediate savings on their electric bills with a new aggregator, and trustees seem poised to make the deal.

“NOPEC at this time is offering the best rate, and there are no additional monthly fees and residents can opt in or out as they choose,” trustee Bruce Shepas said at Monday’s trustees meeting, which took place at the Austintown Senior Center.

Austintown would be the 250th community to join the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council and would notice an immediate drop in their rate beginning in May, said Director of Community Expansion Ross McDonald.

McDonald also spoke at November’s trustees meeting and the township hosted two town hall meetings to give residents the opportunity to hear what NOPEC has to offer.

The township is contracted through April 23 with Texas-based Dynegy, for a locked-in 12-month rate of $0.933 per kilowatt hour. That deal marked a $0.499 increase, roughly doubling rates, and bringing the ire of residents down on the board last year.

McDonald said the move was not the trustees’ fault, and Shepas said the only reason they did not opt for NOPEC’s rate, which would have been lower, is because NOPEC did not reach them in time for the township to provide residents with the required community notice.

“If it was up to me, we’d have gone with NOPEC, but they were not able to handle us and Canfield,” he said at the time. “NOPEC said they wanted to help but could not do it in time. They could not make it happen for our residents before May.”

He said they selected Dynegy because it was the best remaining rate available, did not have additional monthly fees and allowed residents to opt in and out at will.

McDonald said that if Austintown joins NOPEC, the locked-in rate will drop on April 24 to $0.899 per kw/h. They can also opt for a 12-month rate of $.085 per kw/h or $0.09 for 24 months.

“We have to do it by the end of the month, and my honest opinion is we’ll decide on Dec. 15. We don’t want to waste any time and we want to lock in the best rate,” he said.

Joining NOPEC also would bring additional perks, Shepas said.

“They offer, I believe, up to $45,000 annually in grants to be used for energy efficiency projects,” he said.

McDonald said residents will receive letters notifying them of the pending change and the opt-out period, which is March 19 to April 8. April 24 will be the first day of service.

For residents who are under contract with their own providers beyond that date, McDonald said the company will be notified of their eligibility to join once the contract is ended, or the resident can reach out to NOPEC directly at that time. He said he recommends seeing their contract through to avoid cancellation fees.