Statement by Councilman Kazy on NOPEC Announcement

Aug 25, 2022

Statement by Councilman Brian Kazy, chair of Council’s Public Utilities Committee

NOPEC (Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council) had previously been chosen as the electric aggregator for the city of Cleveland. Council recently approved legislation that will put out the aggregator selection for bid later this year. Electricity officials believe energy markets will normalize next year.

The nonprofit NOPEC Council announced recently that is temporarily moving nearly all of its more than 500,000 customers to a utility default choice so customers do not have to opt out to find lower costs.

A large number of Cleveland residents will save money with this move. Energy aggregators can normally offer among the lowest rates, but a combination of factors including the war in Ukraine, a hotter than normal summer, and the rates NOPEC had locked in via auctions are now higher than the default pricing available through traditional electric companies.   

However, this change has no effect on Cleveland Public Power customers. CPP provides service to nearly 80,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers.