Business & Tech

NOPEC Selects NextEra Energy as New Electricity Supplier

Customers will receive pricing from January 2017 through the summer high-demand that will generate savings comparable to the old contract.

SOLON, OH - The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) has reached an agreement for NextEra Energy Services Ohio (NESO) to become the supplier of electricity for a program that currently serves almost 500,000 customers in 13 Northern Ohio counties.

This three-year agreement with NESO will replace the current electricity supply contract for NOPEC customers. In late October, NOPEC’s current supplier announced that it was terminating its contract

effective January 2017. The NESO agreement will commence as the current contract ends.

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Under the NOPEC-NESO retail electric aggregation supply agreement, customers will receive initial pricing from January 2017 through the summer high-demand period that will generate savings comparable to the expiring NOPEC contract with FirstEnergy. After the initial price period, customers will receive competitive variable rates based on favorable wholesale purchase prices then available in the market.

There will be zero cancellation or early termination fees.

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NOPEC-NESO electricity customers also will have the option to choose a variable rate that will mirror the percentage off utility price savings contained in the expiring contract. That variable rate will be available for as many as 10,000 customers.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to expand our business relationship with NOPEC and increaseour business presence in the Buckeye State. We have been working hard to deliver results for NOPECover many years now, and the level of confidence that they have expressed in our capabilities is quitehumbling,” said Vice President of NESO Mark Palanchian.

NOPEC customers should expect to receive their opt-out notices for service under the new program in
the next few weeks.

“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with NESO,” Chuck Keiper, executive director of NOPEC said. “This is a world-class clean energy company and we know that NOPEC electricity customers will be in very capable hands.”

NESO and NOPEC have entered into a separate agreement under which NESO will provide NOPEC with
additional EarthEraTM Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for 2017 that, when added to the RECs
specifically required by applicable Ohio Renewables Portfolio Standard, will equal 50 percent of NOPEC
customers’ energy usage in NOPEC’s footprint. Besides the provision of this increased REC quantity,NOPEC’s EarthEra program participation is also expected to direct over $10 million of NESO’s electricity sales revenues from these 13 Northern Ohio counties to be used for the construction of future NextEra Energy Resources renewable energy projects. This separate agreement will not result in any additional costs to NOPEC customers.

"All of this is good news on the green and renewable energy front," NOPEC's Keiper said. "NOPEC knows
that it’s fostering a more sustainable future and that $10 million of NESO’s revenue is guaranteed to be
spent on building new renewable energy generation."

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