County To Examine Energy Aggregation Program That Includes Moorestown

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Last year, Moorestown was one of 10 municipalities in Burlington County that entered into a government energy aggregation pilot program designed to save county residents money on their electric bills. As the term for the pilot nears its conclusion, county officials are examining ways to extend the program.

The Burlington County Bridge Commission, which partnered with the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders to execute the program, extended the contract with consultant Concord Engineering Group last week, according to the Burlington County Times. The freeholders will meet with the consultant soon. It will determine if a third-party supplier can provide a better fixed rate than the local electric companies.

Together, the townships involved in the program give a company permission to be the energy supplier for all of these households. Each customer still receives a bill from their current electric company. They continue to call their local electric company in case of an outage, and generally never notice any change.

However, the energy supplier changes, and the program is designed to help the townships save money. The theory is the bigger the group, the bigger the savings, and that the government program is able to get a better price than individuals are.

Residents in the municipalities that entered into the program were automatically enrolled, with the ability to “opt-out” at any time. The Burlington County Freeholder Board held a competitive auction in June of last year, and the county said residents will save a total of more than $2.8 million.

The bridge commission agreed to a $115,000 contract with Concord in 2014 to monitor the energy market, according to the report. The extension doesn’t include the appropriation of additional money. The county pays nothing.

The program was made available to all municipalities in the county, with 10 ultimately deciding to join the program.

Those towns include Burlington City, Cinnaminson, Florence, Lumberton, Moorestown, Palmyra, Southampton, Riverside, Woodland, and Wrightstown.

Other towns will have another chance to join the program at a later date if they choose to.

It is currently unknown how much money the program has saved, according to the report.

Patch file photo