T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Jay Sell, aggregation specialist for Aspen Energy, speaks to Bridgeport Village Council on Tuesday evening about the company’s electric aggregation program. Residents will have the option to lock in an electricity rate of 0.0586 cents per kilowatt hour beginning March 2022.

BRIDGEPORT — Residents soon will have the option to lock in their electric rate through the village’s electric aggregation program, set to take effect in March 2022.

Bridgeport Village Council unanimously approved the program during Tuesday’s evening meeting. Voters approved the program in 2015; however, the contract was not signed by the village until now.

Jay Sell, aggregation specialist for Aspen Energy, met with council members prior to them signing the contract. He said there is an “energy crisis” going on with gasoline, natural gas, oil and electricity.

“Pricing is going up pretty much across the board from what we’re seeing — real time markets and what’s being projected in utility rates from AEP. So we went out and we shopped, and we found the lowest bid out there on the market,” he said.

The electric rate will be set at 0.0586 cents per kilowatt hour for 48 months. Sell said this will be a fixed rate so if rates rise, residents who opt-in to the program will not have to worry about an increase in cost. All AEP Energy customers are able to opt-in and opt-out at any time at no additional cost. AEP’s current rate, until the end of the year, is 0.051 cents per kilowatt hour, although Sell said the actual market impact has not happened yet.

“It seems like in the summertime, without looking too much into it, it seems like the rate could rocket pretty high so I think it’s a good move to get it locked in and hope for the most savings you could possibly get,” he said.

As a part of the program, the village will be awarded a $10,000 civic grant that must be used for community improvements projects.

“It’s really implementing a program that will be good for the community,” he said.

In other matters, Mayor Norma Teasdale recognized the police department for its hard work over the past year. National Police Week, which is typically May 9-15, was moved to Oct. 13-17 this year due to COVID-19. She said she wanted to take the time to celebrate the department and its accomplishments.

“I wanted to recognize our police in Bridgeport and all the other police in the nation. Our officers had an active report for this year,” she said.

Since January, the department has seized:

— 23.84 ounces of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $33,800;

— 126 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of $13,000;

— 39 grams of fentanyl with an estimated street value of $6,000;

— 88 dosage units of LSD with an estimated street value of $2,000;

— 998 felony illegal pills with an estimated street value between $10,000 and $30,000;

— 18 firearms; and

— $139,104 in U.S. currency.

“The total for the illegal drugs is anywhere from $64,800-$84,800 was taken off the streets this year alone. They had 265 total criminal incident reports. I want to thank the officers and all law enforcement for keeping our communities safe and trying to take the drugs off the streets,” Teasdale said.

Also, council voted to increase the village’s garbage dumpster rates. Any dumpster over 4 cubic yards will be charged at $6.12 per yard; an increase of $2. The original charge for commercial businesses and industrial establishments was $4.12 a yard.