Community Aggregation

What is a community energy aggregation in ohio?

Local governments can use the buying power of many customers in their communities to purchase electricity or natural gas on their behalf through aggregation. While savings (from the utility’s standard offer) are not always guaranteed, many communities are able to obtain discounted prices from energy suppliers as well as provide green energy options not available through the utility’s standard offer.

There are two types of energy aggregation programs that may be available to consumers: “Opt-Out” aggregation and “Opt-In” aggregation.

Opt-Out Aggregations

In order for communities to offer an opt-out energy aggregation program, they must first obtain voters’ approval in a local election and follow a series of steps to initialize the aggregation.

Consumers in an area where government aggregation has been approved will not need to sign a contract; they are automatically enrolled unless they opt-out.

Those who do not explicitly opt-out and are in a government aggregation area are automatically included in the municipality’s aggregation. If these consumers do not opt-out and then choose a new supplier, they remain customers of the government aggregation program.

Consumers in an area with government aggregation who want to remain with their local utility will need to opt-out of the aggregation program and switch to their local utility.

opt-in aggregations

In an opt-in plan, customers may voluntarily sign up to participate if a government body or other type of organization chooses to aggregate. In an “opt-out” plan, consumers are automatically enrolled in the aggregation plan unless they affirmatively choose not to participate. An example of an opt-in aggregation would be where community organizations (such as civic organizations and churches) aggregate energy purchases for their members.

To learn if your Ohio community has already aggregated, click on the links under “Maps” below.

Electric

Natural Gas

To learn more about aggregation as a form of energy choice, the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel offers you the following publications:

Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Aggregation Summary

Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Summary