HUBBARD TOWNSHIP — While the county voted to go in a different direction with its gas aggregation program this year, its former provider hopes to persuade local governments to join them.

As public comment at Tuesday’s reorganization meeting concluded, officials and residents heard a presentation from Thomas Bellish, president of Buckeye Energy Brokers Inc. of Akron.

Bellish said his company has worked with the township through the county for about 15 years on matters such as electric pricing, noting that they secured a 4.53 cents per kilowatt-hour rate for about three years.

Bellish said residents he’s talked to have been happy with their rates, and he hasn’t heard any complaints throughout his company’s partnership with the county — which is why he was asking trustees to continue working with him on their next term, noting the electric plan ends in May.

He said he was meeting with trustees because the natural gas term ends in March, leaving him with a small window to work with to get things up and running.

“Four other communities have not continued with the county and stayed with Buckeye — the City of Niles, the Village of Lordstown, Newton Township and Howland Township,” Bellish said. “They are happy with us and wanted to continue that.”

Bellish noted that the commissioners’ decision to join a gas aggregation program being pushed by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio was not unanimous, with Commissioner Rick Hernandez, a former Hubbard trustee, voting against the program.

The new program will cost households participating in the program an estimated $4.93 per mcf over the three-year contract term, but the final cost will not be determined until after the contract is signed with the gas supplier.

“He (Hernandez) did want a bid from us and others, and we were not permitted to bid; that’s why I’m not working with the county anymore,” Bellish said.

Trustee Eric Lamb said he spoke with Commissioner Denny Malloy, who explained that 55 counties use Palmer Energy and the commissioners “pretty much” third-party another third-party to do an aggregate.

“We think that’s pretty self-serving; I see a conflict there. Not everybody sees that, but that’s alright,” Bellish said. “CCAO is not certified by the Public Utilities Commission, and that is a requirement; they should not be contracting for energy.”

He said he understood the board had already signed with CCAO, but it’s a violation of the law — noting Buckeye has been certified for 25 years.

“The president of Palmer Energy is the mayor of the City of Sylvania, so that’s against city rule. It’s also a felony, having an interest in a public contract is a felony,” Bellish said. “So I wanted to point that out, mention that to the Board of Commissioners.”

Bellish said Commissioner Tony Bernard allowed townships to collect bids in October, recalling he mentioned it over the past two weeks.

“Tonight, we did get a bid, and it’s better than the one that the county got; I’ve gotten somewhere between $4.60 — some of the others got $4.70 (per MCF of gas).”

An aggregate previously existed in 2008 between the county and its townships, with the only opt-out being a letter to the commissioners.

Lamb said if the township wanted to go into its own aggregate, trustees had to put it on a ballot and let residents vote on it, according to Malloy.

Lamb said he emailed Patrick Wilson, the township’s attorney who also represents Cortland, to get more clarity.

Bellish said while the CCAO has 55 counties, only a few suppliers can serve that, whereas Buckeye works with smaller groups or smaller suppliers.

Lamb said if the township doesn’t want to stay with the aggregate, residents can pick their own plan. He said they should stay on top of them when they go out of contract, however, so they don’t get hit with a variable rate.

Bellish said the biggest determinant in energy prices is time, noting that energy was really cheap four years ago.

“We did long-term deals and benefitted residents here — now it’s a lot higher, so there’s really nothing you can do,” Bellish said. “Whether you’re buying for one person or 100,000 — you’re still looking at electricity closer to 10 cents starting in June.”

Bellish said there have been suppliers in the past that have offered hedging, which is putting 30% aside, watching market rates and trends, and coming back and hedging another portion in.

“It’s high right now; you don’t want to sign in the winter or the summer, you want to do it in the spring or fall,” Lamb said.