Moorestown Council To Discuss Energy Aggregation Program Monday

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council will consider whether the township should continue participation in Burlington County’s energy aggregation program when it meets Monday night.

Council will meet on Monday night, Oct. 21, 7 p.m. at town hall, 111 West Second Street. The workshop portion of the meeting will begin at 7 p.m., followed by the official action meeting at 7:30 p.m.

The energy aggregation program will be considered during the workshop portion of the meeting, according to officials. Moorestown was part of the pilot program that launched in 2016.

That program ended last year, and some changes were made based on the findings of that program, according to Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie. A presentation by Commercial Utility Consultants about the program will be made Monday night, and council will decide if the township should continue to participate.

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.

The program price is determined through an online auction approved by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. That price remains flat for the duration of the contract, which could be up to two years.

Residents in the municipalities that entered into the program were automatically enrolled, with the ability to "opt-out" at any time, without incurring any fees or penalties.

All third party suppliers are eligible to bid on the program, provided they are bonded and licensed by — and are in good standing with — the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

If council decides to continue to participate in the program, it will pass an ordinance or resolution at a future meeting. Commercial Utility Consultants will then prepare bids/documents to send to BPU and Rate Counsel for review. The energy auction would then be held, and education/outreach to customers would take place. The process repeats at the end of the contract.

The full agenda for Monday night’s meeting had not yet been posted Friday afternoon. A follow-up story with details about the rest of the meeting will be posted on Sunday.