City hears utilities plan

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GREENVILLE — A representative of Affordable Gas & Electric (AGE) was on hand at Tuesday night’s Greenville City Council meeting to answer questions regarding aggregation issues on the November 8 ballot.

Jeff Haarmann, managing partner of AGE, addressed council during the public hearing portion of the meeting, fielding questions from both council members and citizens in attendance.

The goal of aggregation is to allow communities to band together to negotiate lower electric and gas rates for their residents and small businesses. If approved, AGE would handle the negotiations with energy suppliers. Residents and businesses may opt out at no cost.

“Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) simply allows the community to request electricity suppliers to bid on the collective energy needs of the entire community,” said Haarmann. “If it’s approved, and if the rates come back as we expect them to come back, we will bring that recommendation back to the council, and somebody from the council, whether its the city manager, or mayor, or somebody that you designate, will ultimately be approved to sign off on the agreement to establish that rate as the rate for the residential aggregation program on the electricity side and on the natural gas side.”

Another public hearing on the ballot issues will be held October 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building.

The September 20 meeting marked the first with Steve Willman as mayor, who reminded area citizens about a number of community events taking place this coming weekend.

In other business, council approved the following measures:

  • An ordinance authorizing appropriations to the general fund in the amount of $5,400, a rebate on LED lighting purchased for downtown Greenville and Public Square from the CIP fund.
  • An ordinance allowing a transfer from the general fund in the amount of $10,000 for the purpose of purchasing backup software for the Virtual Environment Project.
  • A resolution to have the city’s safety/service director advertise for re-bids for the city’s Explosive Gas Mitigation System. A re-bid was necessary as all previous bids exceeded the engineer’s estimate by 10 percent.
  • An ordinance accepting annexation of a 7.14-acre parcel owned by the Surber family and rezoning the tract as “general business.”

Greenville City Council meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Greenville Municipal Building, 100 Public Square. The public is invited to attend.

Greenville Safety/Service Director Curt Garrison (left) and Greenville Mayor Steve Willman (right) listen to a representative from Affordable Gas & Electric (AGE) discuss the November 8 ballot issues which, if passed, would allow AGE to bid on electric and gas rates on behalf of Greenville’s residents and small businesses.
https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Willman-Garrison-0004-PRINT.jpgGreenville Safety/Service Director Curt Garrison (left) and Greenville Mayor Steve Willman (right) listen to a representative from Affordable Gas & Electric (AGE) discuss the November 8 ballot issues which, if passed, would allow AGE to bid on electric and gas rates on behalf of Greenville’s residents and small businesses. Erik Martin | The Daily Advocate

By Erik Martin

[email protected]

The writer may be reached at 937-569-4314. Join the conversation and get updates on Facebook search Darke County Sports or Advocate 360. For more features online go to dailyadvocate.com

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