Dive Brief:
- The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC), the largest public retail aggregator in the United States, has reached a deal for NextEra Energy Services Ohio to supply its electricity for the next three years after a FirstEnergy subsidiary canceled the contract three years earlier than expected.
- NOPEC supplied energy for about 500,000 customers in 13 Northern Ohio counties. The Plain Dealer reports the aggregator took less than two weeks to ink the new deal.
- Under a separate agreement, NextEra will provide NOPEC with additional renewable energy certificates (RECs) for 2017 that will equal 50% of energy usage in the aggregation footprint.
Dive Insight:
NextEra Energy Services Ohio is a subsidiary of the largest clean-energy generator in the United States, a fact which NOPEC stressed in announcing the new supply arrangement.
Under the agreement, NOPEX said customers will receive initial pricing from January 2017 through the summer high-demand period that will generate savings comparable to the expiring contract savings. Following an initial price period, customers will receive variable rates based on favorable wholesale purchase prices. Up to 100,000 customers will also will have the option to choose a variable rate that will mirror the percentage off utility price savings contained in the expiring contract.
Separately, NextEra will provide NOPEC with additional RECs for 2017 that, when added to the certificates already required by Ohio's renewable standards, will equal 50% of NOPEC customers’ energy usage. Participation in NOPEC’s EarthEra program participation will direct over $10 million of NESO’s electricity sales revenues towards future NextEra Energy Resources renewable energy projects.
But despite NextEra's reputation has the largest clean energy generator, its commitments to clean energy have been questioned due to its subsidiary Florida Power & Light's reliance on natural gas.
