Community Aggregation

Energy Harbor is a fully integrated retail energy provider and independent power producer capable of generating substantial carbon-free energy. Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, the company proudly serves nearly one million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan. Over 200 communities in Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey have chosen Energy Harbor to provide community choice aggregation programs.

Community choice aggregation is an easy and effective way for a large group of consumers to get exclusive pricing on their electric and gas bills. Some states, such as Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey, have laws that allow for communities to form aggregated buying groups to purchase gas and electric generation on behalf of their citizens. By bringing citizens together, the aggregation gains group buying power, and the community typically can negotiate a more competitive rate with a certified generation supplier than each aggregation group member could have negotiated individually. The community or governmental aggregator then selects a certified electric or gas generation supplier that can deliver the best value to all members in its group.

Members of your community voted to allow your locally elected officials to contract for a gas and/or electric generation supplier on behalf of the community. These types of programs are available to residents and small businesses in Ohio and Illinois.

For residents in New Jersey, new aggregation programs are agreed upon by a majority vote by the municipality's elected body and then approved by the Board of Public Utilities.

Once a supplier has been selected, all eligible residents and small businesses in the community will be notified, automatically enrolled, and will begin receiving the generation pricing under the program. Eligible residents and small businesses do not need to do anything to join the program.

Please call 1-866-636-3749 to see if your community has an existing aggregation program with Energy Harbor for which you may be eligible.

The main benefit of community choice aggregation is the exclusive pricing. Due to the purchasing power of a community choice aggregation program, most communities get a more competitive rate than if they were to get rates from a supplier individually.

There are several benefits to community choice aggregation programs. These include:

Competitive, fixed energy rates – Communities leverage their group purchasing power to negotiate competitive rates. The competitive supplier will provide residents with exclusive, fixed energy rates for price protection and bill stability.

Clean energy options – Local utilities are often unable to offer clean energy options like competitive suppliers can. Community choice aggregation programs allow communities to meet sustainability objectives by negotiating competitive rates on renewable energy and carbon-free plans.

Choice and control - Community choice aggregation programs give communities more local control over their energy choices – in terms of suppliers as well as energy sources.

Risk-free - Residents and small businesses will not be charged enrollment or switching fees upon starting with their community’s chosen supplier, nor are they required to remain with that chosen supplier. Anyone has the option to opt out of the community choice aggregation program within the opt out period or may leave the program at any time without penalty.

Yes. Eligible community members are notified by mail and automatically enrolled with the chosen supplier unless they choose not to participate in the community choice aggregation program. Participation is completely voluntary, so you may opt out at any time. If you do not opt out within the opt out period outlined in the notification you received, you will be automatically enrolled. However, you are free to leave the aggregation early and may opt out of the program at any time without penalty. We will not contact you again for the remainder of the community’s current contracted term of service.

Upon renewal of the aggregation program, all eligible residents and small businesses will be contacted by the community’s chosen supplier regardless of whether they’ve opted out of the previous term of service.

For more detailed information related to the opt out process for an Energy Harbor community choice aggregation program, please review the FAQs located on our Opt Out page.

If you recently received a notification with your personalized opt out code from Energy Harbor and wish to opt out by the deadline or leave the program early, you can do so by 1) mailing in the opt out form enclosed with the notification, 2) contacting our call center at 1-866-636-3749, or 3) simply use our online Opt Out Form which requires your personalized opt out code from the notification.

Please Note: If a community choice aggregation notification is returned as undelivered for any reason, that eligible resident or small business will be automatically opted out of the community choice aggregation program since the eligible account holder wasn’t given the chance to review the materials and decide for themselves. If the undelivered mail is returned after the opt out deadline, the account may be served by Energy Harbor for 1-2 billing cycles depending on meter-read date.

For more detailed information related to the opt out process for an Energy Harbor community choice aggregation program, please review the FAQs located on our Opt Out page.

Eligible community members who do not want to participate are given the opportunity to cancel the pending enrollment during the opt out period outlined in the community choice aggregation notification they received. In Ohio and Illinois, this is a 21-day period from the mail date of the notification. In New Jersey, residents and small businesses have 30 days to avoid automatic inclusion in the program.

If you choose to leave the program early but do so after the opt out deadline communicated in the notification, you may be served and billed for your usage with the community’s selected supplier until the utility is able to return you to their default service offer or your individually chosen supplier on your next available meter read date following the opt out request. In most cases, this can take up to 1-2 billing cycles depending on your meter read date. Residents or small businesses that previously opted out of the program, recently moved, or did not receive the notification letter are still eligible to re-enroll at any time.

For more detailed information related to the opt out process for an Energy Harbor community choice aggregation program, please review the FAQs located on our Opt Out page.

Whichever method you choose, if your opt out is not received by the deadline communicated in the notification, you will be automatically included in your community’s choice aggregation program and will begin receiving the exclusive, competitively priced energy from your community’s chosen energy generation supplier.

You can stay with your current energy utility, which will continue to supply your gas or electricity as it always has, or you can shop for an alternative generation supplier.

All States and Utility Service Territories

Residents or small businesses that reside outside the geographic boundaries of a community or are not present on the list of eligible community accounts provided by the utility are ineligible to participate in a community aggregation program. Cities and villages are almost always excluded from township and county programs.

Customers participating in Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) or Customer Assistance Programs (CAP) are not eligible for community aggregation programs.

To the extent they can be identified, customers who are behind on payments to the utility will be excluded or declined enrollment into community aggregation programs.

Residential and small business accounts shopping with another supplier are not eligible for automatic inclusion in a program but may join at any time provided all other eligibility requirements are met.

Ohio Electric

Residents on a special arrangement with the utility such as net-metering are not eligible for Energy Harbor’s community aggregation programs.

Mercantile accounts with usage greater than 700,000 kWh per year or 100kW monthly demand are not eligible for automatic inclusion in a community aggregation program and instead must provide affirmative consent to join. Mercantile accounts may not always be eligible for the default community aggregation program price and must initiate a Service Request through Energy Harbor’s call center to determine eligibility for the program and the terms and conditions applicable to mercantile participation. Customers on small, medium, or large commercial utility rate codes and usage greater than 700,000 kWh per year or 100 kW monthly demand can always Request a Quote through Energy Harbor’s commercial sales channels without restriction.

Residents or small businesses who appear on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) Do Not Aggregate list are not included in community aggregation programs but may join the program at any time provided all other eligibility requirements are met.

Illinois Electric

Small businesses with usage greater than 15,000 kWh are not eligible for aggregation but may choose from other competitive and utility supply offerings.

Community solar participants are not eligible for municipal aggregation programs.

Residents on a special arrangement with the utility, such as net-metering, are not automatically included in the program. A net-metering exclusive offer may exist for your community for residents who complete the utility required application and contact Energy Harbor to provide affirmative consent to join an aggregation program.

It may not be advantageous for a net-metering participant to shop with a generation supplier. For more detailed information related to net-metering with a supplier and the application process for Illinois, visit our Net-Metering page.

New Jersey Electric

Select rate classes, like small business or residential real-time accounts, may not be eligible based on community requirements for the program.

Small business accounts and residents on a special arrangement with the utility, such as net-metering, who have not provided affirmative consent are not automatically included in the program.

It may not be advantageous for a net-metering participant to shop with a generation supplier. For more detailed information related to net-metering with a supplier in New Jersey, visit our Net-Metering page.

Ohio Gas

Mercantile or medium to large businesses with usage greater than 5,000 CCF or 500 MCF per year or who operate three or more service locations are not eligible for community aggregation.

Please Note: If any account is identified as ineligible based on any of the above reasons after enrollment, even if previously served in a community aggregation program, Energy Harbor will take the necessary action to return the account to the utility for default service upon the next available meter read date.

You might be ineligible for a specific community aggregation program if your residential or small business service address is outside of the geographic boundaries of the community or is not present on the list of eligible community accounts provided by the utility. Some common reasons for this include:

The service city or zip code in and of itself does not qualify as eligible for a program.
Cities and villages are almost always excluded from a township or county program.
Not all townships are guaranteed to participate in a county program.
Communities eligible to be served through a county program are defined by the contract between the county and Energy Harbor, not the geographic boundaries of the county.

Additionally, your service address may be located in a community with its own registered aggregation program which may be inactive or under contract with another supplier.

If your community is not registered for aggregation or has its own program, you are not eligible for neighboring, adjacent, or seemingly overlapping programs.

Should one of the above situations occurs, Energy Harbor will provide a notice of your ineligibility and where possible inform you if Energy Harbor serves another community program for which you are eligible.

If any account is identified as or subsequently becomes ineligible after enrollment, even if previously served in a community aggregation program, Energy Harbor will take the necessary action to return the account to the utility for default service. While Energy Harbor may audit participants at any time, at a minimum your participation in the program will be compared to the list of eligible accounts provided by the utility upon renewal of the community program.

Utility tariffs under which you are served and eligibility lists are subject to change over time. Your service address may map out of the community in which you were previously served or be located in a community with its own registered aggregation program which may be inactive or under contract with another supplier. If your community is not registered for aggregation or has its own program, you are not eligible for neighboring, adjacent, or seemingly overlapping programs. For more detailed information on eligibility, please refer to the following FAQs:

Who is NOT eligible to participate?
Why might my service address NOT be eligible for a community program?

If you believe you were returned to the utility in error, please contact us at 1-866-636-3749, Monday - Friday, 8 am to 5 pm EST to opt-in or initiate a service request. Energy Harbor will review your eligibilty and where possible inform you if Energy Harbor serves another community program for which you are eligible. If eligible for a program, Energy Harbor will submit a new enrollment and your service will begin upon your next available meter-read cycle. Your enrollment will not be retroactive to the start of the community program.

You will know if you are enrolled in an Energy Harbor community choice aggregation program if your bill reflects the Energy Harbor price listed above upon your next available meter read date. You will also receive a letter from your electric or gas utility confirming your participation. To become a member of your community’s choice aggregation program, you don’t need to take any action when this letter arrives.

If your community negotiated exclusive pricing for a period greater than 36 months – your program may be divided into multiple terms of service (lengths of agreement).

Community choice aggregation programs are required to notify participants of their right to opt out of the aggregation at certain times throughout the program. In Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey electric aggregations programs, you will be notified of your right to opt out of the program at least every three years. Gas aggregation programs in Ohio will provide you this opportunity at least every two years.

By enrolling, you are only consenting to the price and length of agreement communicated in the Terms and Conditions. Prior to the end of the current term, eligible participants will receive a notification extending the exclusive pricing until the end of its contracted term with the community. You may opt out again or rejoin. No action is necessary for eligible participants to remain in the program. Ineligible participants will be returned to their utility’s standard service offer, sometimes called the Price to Compare, for default service.

Community choice aggregation programs are required to notify participants of their right to opt out of the aggregation at certain times throughout the program.

In Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey electric aggregations programs, you will be notified of your right to opt out of the program at least every three years. Gas aggregation programs in Ohio will provide you this opportunity at least every two years.

If your community’s current term of service is greater than 36 months for electric or 24 months for OH natural gas, Energy Harbor will send you a new notification at the conclusion of that period extending your current exclusive pricing until the end of its contracted term with the community.

If your community’s current term is expiring and your community renews the program for additional terms, eligible community members, even those who have previously opted out, will be notified of the new program terms and exclusive pricing for the communicated service period.

Whether your current term of service with Energy Harbor, or another supplier, is coming to an end, this is your opportunity to either opt out or continue the benefits of the program.

For more information on your current term of service with Energy Harbor, please refer to your community’s aggregation program on our Find Your Program page.

Fixed price means the price you will receive each month does not change and will remain the same for the entire length of the term of service communicated in the community choice aggregation notification and terms and conditions you receive.

Fixed price means the price you will receive each month does not change. Additionally, your electricity is paired with a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC). A REC represents the environmental benefit of electricity generated by a renewable energy resource like wind or solar. For every unit of renewable energy generated, a REC is created. For every kWh you use, Energy Harbor purchases an equivalent number of RECs from a renewable energy source, supporting national renewable electricity production. RECs are not sold more than once or claimed by more than one party.

Unless otherwise stated in the community choice aggregation notification or terms and conditions for the offer, the percentage of the RECs paired with your electricity is in addition to your state-minimum Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).

Fixed price means the price you will receive each month does not change. Carbon-free means the energy you use is backed by Emission Free Energy Certificates (EFECs). The majority of Energy Harbor’s EFECs come from one of our four carbon-free nuclear generation units.

For more detailed information on emission free energy, visit our Carbon-Free page.

The capacity charge is a market-based fee used to ensure generators are producing enough electricity to cover the demand on the electricity grid when demand is at its highest. Changes to the capacity charge are determined annually through an auction administered by the grid operator (Midcontinent Independent System Operator). In order to avoid potentially paying a premium for capacity due to uncertainty, your price was designed to incorporate the actual cost of capacity as it is set by auction. Your total fixed price per kWh consists of a base price and a capacity charge which will be calculated following the auction in April each year. Prior to the end of each term, you will receive a new opt-out notice describing the total price resulting from the sum of the capacity charge and the base price.

A utility’s comparable supply price, sometimes called a Price to Compare (PTC), Standard Service Offer (SSO) or Standard Choice Offer (SCO), may increase or decrease monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the utility.

A community choice aggregation program with a fixed price is intended to provide residents with exclusive, fixed energy rates for price protection and bill stability for the length of the term of service. With a fixed price product, the price you receive each month does not change and participants benefit from that predictability. Any variance in your monthly charges is a direct result of your electric or gas usage.

During months where the utility price is greater than your price with the community choice aggregation program you’ll see the added benefit of savings compared to what you otherwise would have paid with the utility. With a fixed price product, savings is not guaranteed every month, but may exist over the length of the term of service.

As you may be aware, the cost of products and services have been getting more expensive in the current market, and energy is no exception. Your price with your community’s choice aggregation program is fixed through the end date communicated in your terms and conditions. With Energy Harbor, you have the certainty that your price per kWh will remain the same for the entire length of the term of service.

A utility’s comparable supply price, sometimes called a Price to Compare (PTC), Standard Service Offer (SSO) or Standard Choice Offer (SCO), may increase or decrease monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the utility.

With a fixed price product, the price you receive each month does not change. This means you have budget certainty and protection against price spikes.

In any given month the utility’s supply price might be higher or lower than your community choice aggregation program, but the price for your community’s choice aggregation program will remain the same until the end of the program, regardless of market conditions.

Existing participants in a community choice aggregation program, regardless of product type, are notified by mail and automatically enrolled in the default offer unless they choose not to participate in the program.

If your community includes an optional product such as a “Green” wind or solar offer or a variable price offer such as 1% off your utility’s Price to Compare, you can decide if this product is the best choice for your energy needs and opt-in once again by calling us at 1-866-636-3749. Alternative options, if available, are indicated in the community choice aggregation enrollment notification you received.

You will continue to receive a single, easy-to-read bill from your local distribution utility with your new supplier charges included. Those charges are based on the exclusive pricing for your community. How you pay your energy bill will not change. If you have automatic deductions from your checking account, you do not need to do anything to retain that service.

Yes, but the specifics of budget billing will vary by state and utility.

Ohio

Duke Energy and FirstEnergy (Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and The Illuminating Company): your utility includes supplier charges in your monthly budgeted amount. No action is necessary to continue that service.

AES Ohio: customers who received a community aggregation notification from Energy Harbor, budget billing will automatically be provided to eligible residents who currently have budget billing with their utility AND at least 10 months of historical usage at their current service address. If you have less than 10 months of usage, you will still receive the community exclusive pricing but will be ineligible to budget the generation supply portion of your bill with Energy Harbor. For enrollment requests received by web or phone, Energy Harbor will not automatically budget the generation portion of your electric bill.

Once you have at least 10 months of usage with Energy Harbor at your current service address, please call 1-866-636-3749 to enroll in the budget billing offer available for your community.

AEP Ohio (Ohio Power and Columbus Southern): Energy Harbor will not automatically budget the generation portion of your electric bill unless explicitly stated otherwise in the “Same Reliable Service” section of the community aggregation notification you received. For enrollment requests received by web or phone, Energy Harbor will not automatically budget the generation portion of your electric bill.

Once you have at least 10 months of usage with Energy Harbor at your current service address, please call 1-866-636-3749 to determine if a budget billing offer through Energy Harbor is available for your community.

Ohio Natural Gas Utilities: your utility includes supplier charges in your monthly budgeted amount. No action is necessary to continue that service.

Illinois

Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison: your utility includes supplier charges in your monthly budgeted amount. No action is necessary to continue that service.

New Jersey

Jersey Central Power and Light (JCPL) and PSE&G service territories who received a community aggregation notification from Energy Harbor, budget billing will automatically be provided to eligible residents who currently have budget billing with their utility AND at least 10 months of historical usage at their current service address. If you have less than 10 months of usage, you will still receive the community exclusive pricing but will be ineligible to budget the generation supply portion of your bill with Energy Harbor. For enrollment requests received by web or phone, Energy Harbor will not automatically budget the generation portion of your electric bill.

Once you have at least 10 months of usage with Energy Harbor at your current service address, please call 1-866-636-3749 to enroll in the budget billing offer available for your community.

Under budget billing service, Energy Harbor will calculate your budgeted amount based on your average electric usage over the prior months. Periodically, Energy Harbor may examine your budget and may adjust it to more closely match your usage from the previous year. The new budget amount may vary from the level of your current budgeted payment. You will continue to receive a levelized amount from your utility for delivery service and may experience true ups with your utility during the contract. Energy Harbor will conduct a final true-up at the end of the contract - or upon your leaving the program should you opt out before the program’s end date - to reconcile between the actual amount of electricity used and the amount paid under the plan.

For Ohio electric customers in AEP Ohio (Ohio Power and Columbus Southern) service territories, Energy Harbor will not automatically budget the generation portion of your electric bill unless explicitly stated otherwise in the “Same Reliable Service” section of the community choice aggregation enrollment notification you received.

For Ohio electric customers in AES Ohio and AEP Ohio and New Jersey electric customers in Jersey Central Power and Light and PSE&G service territories where the community choice aggregation enrollment notification indicated you would retain this service, it is possible you did not meet the minimum eligibility requirement of 10 months of historical usage at your current service address, information which may be incomplete or not known to Energy Harbor at the time of enrollment depending on data provided by your utility.

If you believe this to be in error, or if you are currently on or enter into a budget billing program with your utility after enrolling with Energy Harbor, and meet this minimum eligibility requirement, please call 1-866-636-3749, to determine if a budget billing offer through Energy Harbor is available in your community.

Ohio: Energy Harbor does not offer net-metering on supply charges for residents and small businesses. Individuals with this special arrangement should remain with their utility to maintain the benefits of that service.

Illinois: Residents on this special arrangement with the utility who have not provided affirmative consent are not automatically included in an aggregation program. A net-metering exclusive offer may exist for your community for residents who complete the utility required application and contact the supplier to provide affirmative consent to join an aggregation program. However, it may not be advantageous to leave your net-metering arrangement with your utility.

For more detailed information or to begin the application process, visit our Net-Metering page.

New Jersey: Residents on this special arrangement with the utility who have not provided affirmative consent are not automatically included in an aggregation program. Similar to Illinois, it may not be advantageous for a net-metering participant to shop with a generation supplier. Residents may forfeit credits for electric supply service and delivery service, or both, if they switch to a generation supplier.

For more detailed information related to net-metering with a supplier in New Jersey, visit our Net-Metering page.

If you have questions, wish to leave, or join the program, please call 1-866-636-3749, Monday - Friday, 8 am to 5 pm EST.