T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Trebel Energy, energy aggregation specialist Larry Taylor informs St. Clairsville city council that his company could provide the city with a fixed rate anywhere from $0.60 to $0.69 per 100 cubic feet.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Trebel Energy and the city of St. Clairsville is seeking to enter into a new gas agreement.

Council member Don Vincenzo said that the city’s gas aggregation contract is up and the city is interested in possibly continuing the relationship with Trebel.

“We haven’t gotten a price from them yet,” Vincenzo said. “They said that it could be anywhere from $0.60 to $0.69 per 100 cubic feet, which is fair, but it’s not competitive. So we’re waiting for them to tell us what the price would be. So that we can determine from there where we’re going to go.”

Energy aggregation specialist Larry Taylor said that, in 2025, he recommended a 2% guaranteed savings off of the Columbia Gas Standard Choice offer.

“We knew that that wasn’t a huge savings, but if we had a program in place, it would give us the ability to switch over to a fixed rate because of the volatility in the market last year,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t our recommendation to switch over until now. And what we’re recommending now is that the council give us the authority to aggregate the residents in the community together, send it out to bid and get a fixed rate that would be good for two years.

“The basic reason that we’re suggesting this is simply because the experts at Trebel Energy believe that energy prices, including natural gas, are going to continue to rise through 2030,” he added.

Taylor said the gas market is at a point right now where he feels he can lock in a fixed rate for two years.

“Our goal would be that the fixed rate would be less than what residents would be paying during the fall and the winter months, therefore saving them money,” Taylor said.

He added that when council approved the original aggregation years ago, one of the requirements was that there were no fees or penalties when someone either opts in or out of the program.

“It’s very easy to opt out of and it doesn’t cost anything to do that,” Taylor said.

He added that the state of Ohio is deregulated, so residents have the opportunity to go out and search for their own gas supplier.

“About 70% of any community, residents, don’t go out and look. So therefore, the city of St. Clairsville has become a gas aggregator, and they go out and provide another option for those 70%,” Taylor said. “They go out and find a good rate and offer that to those residents.”

Vincenzo said that he would very much like the city to enter into a gas aggregation agreement sooner than later, because he is expecting another cold winter.

“We’re supposed to have a cold winter again, from what I’ve been reading and Columbia Gas, they said, could go as high as $1 per 100 cubic feet late in the winter because they don’t have fixed rates,” Vincenzo said. “They adjust with the weather, so a lot of companies are around the $0.58 to $0.60 cent mark.

“But like I said they haven’t given us anything besides that $0.60 to $0.69 which is considered fair,” he continued, “especially if the gas rates go up to a dollar or $1.05 a 100 cubic feet this winter.”

He added that if a deal is not made by when the contract expires at the end of May, residents will have to go back to Columbia Gas until the city is able to enter into a new contract. Once the city does, the residents will automatically be renewed into the aggregation, but still have the option to opt out free of charge.

“There’s really no deadline for us to agree. But we really want to get something before July,” Vincenzo said. “I’d really like us to have some good fixed rates by then.”