Scioto County voters once again defeated a measure that would have allowed the county to hire a company to negotiate for better gas and electric rates for citizens.
Despite a concerted effort by county and city officials to encourage voters to approve the plan, the issue once again failed. Under the measure, Palmer Energy could have negotiated for the best available energy rates.
Those who had already signed up with other companies would have been allowed to keep their plans.
However, Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis said the county is considering alternatives to secure those cheaper rates.
Commissioner Davis said, “Again, I think we’re victims of not being able to communicate things effectively. We can’t spend public funds to market it. It’s word of mouth and Facebook. We did two live town halls. It just wasn’t enough.”
Davis said there was one potential alternative, which would be to have an election on a township-by-township basis and let them vote individually. Much like Green Township. They made the decision long ago to aggregate and they are reaping the rewards from aggregation right now.”
However, Davis said it was too soon after the election to consider what to do next.
Commissioner Scottie Powell added, “It’s disappointing. You put something on the ballot trying to assist your citizens and help them save money. Quite honestly, it’s a difficult topic to understand. What we were trying to do is lock in lower rates.” However, Powell said, “It’s the voters’ choice. They have spoken. Do we put it on the ballot again? Not for a while.”
Davis said that some individual townships where voters were in favor of the measure might consider putting it back on the ballot. “It’s too early to know what we are going to do.”
Commissioner Powell cautioned citizens signing up with energy aggregation companies on their own to make sure and check the fine print. “Do your due diligence. Make sure you don’t have a variable rate. Make sure there’s not a huge exit fee should you decide to end a contract.”