ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Allen County Commissioners are preparing for the future and are taking action now to get relief for some Allen County residents when it comes to natural gas.
Commissioners are working with Palmer Energy to create a natural gas aggregation program. The first step is going to the voters. There will be language on the November ballot that registered voters in the unincorporated areas of Allen County to approve or reject the creation of the program. The county has had an electrical aggregation program for years that has saved consumers a great deal of money. They hope that the natural gas aggregation program will do the same.
"Palmer Energy is used from the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. They're the lead on this and they continuously work and look for the markets on this and they will try and get locked in at the best rate that they can," stated Brian Winegardner, Allen County Commissioner.
If passed in November, it will be almost a year before consumers will see change in their bills. Opt-out letters will be mailed for any resident to choose to not participate. Winegardner says that this is the first step with more to follow.
"There's a process that needs to take place. Which is public hearings, public meetings, with everything that needs to take place we're planning for the future. This is something we need to do to get to that future," added Winegardner.
Winegardner says if the voters say yes they should be able to be locked into a specific rate for the 2023/2024 heating season.
