By SEAN RICE
srice@dailystandard.com
City leaders are close to striking a deal for bulk electric
power service for 2005 to 2008, at a savings compared to current
costs.
Buying electricity to distribute to city residents is the single
biggest expenditure for the city per year, at more than $8 million
this year. Celina has received all its power from Dayton Power
& Light (DP&L) for the last 20 years, but may switch
suppliers for the next three-year deal.
Celina City Council met in a committee-of-the-whole Monday afternoon
to hear the progress of negotiations with prospective power
suppliers. After a long presentation by engineer Donald Gruenemeyer,
of Celina’s consultant Sawvel and Associates, Findlay,
council members recommended giving DP&L one more day to
lower their offer and stay Celina’s supplier.
Celina Safety-Service Director Mike Sovinski was given authority
to execute the contract for power by city council. This morning,
Sovinski told The Daily Standard that he gave DP&L until
the end of today to come down on its price or the city will
go with the deal offered by American Municipal Power-Ohio (AMP-Ohio).
The city sent out requests for proposals to six major electric
suppliers and narrowed the field to the three lowest offers
— DP&L, AMP-Ohio and a company called Constellation
Power Source.
AMP-Ohio, a non-profit agency that represents municipal power
suppliers across Ohio, issued an offer that approximately equates
to $8.8 million in 2005, $9 million in 2006 and $9.2 million
in 2007. DP&L’s offer for the same period starts at
$9 million in 2005, $9.3 million in 2006 and $9.7 million in
2007.
Sovinski said he called the Monday committee meeting to announce
that Celina will choose AMP-Ohio as the next bulk power supplier,
but DP&L sent an e-mail in the morning that vaguely stated
the company may lower its offer.
At the current offers, Sovinski said the 2005 electric cost
will be just under what it will cost in 2004.
Those savings probably would not be experienced by residential
customers, as city officials already have announced plans to
restructure electric rates to make rates more appealing to industrial
customers.
“The price that we’re looking at is a big improvement,
even over what we are paying today,” Sovinski said.
|
