An attempt to save on heating costs has gone spectacularly wrong for five central Ohio suburbs. Natural-gas users in a consortium formed by Bexley, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington will be paying more than twice as much this month as customers of Columbia Gas of Ohio, a rate-regulated utility...
With more than 25,000 participating households, the aggregate losses pile up quickly. In 2009 alone, the customers will pay a projected $9 million more than they would have if they had gone with Columbia.
Since the gas consortium started in 2005, the estimated difference is $15.1 million...
"Certainly, we would have much rather had a lower price," said Bill Harvey, service director for the city of Bexley. "There's not much you can do about it. Any time you lock in a contract for a year, you run this risk."...
Harvey said residents understand that if they don't like the consortium price, they can call IGS and be switched to the Columbia price with no penalty.
His sense is that residents generally approve of the program. If they don't, he hasn't heard from them.
"We're not getting a lot of phone calls on it," he said.
Burley, the Bexley real-estate agent, canceled his participation in the city program this week. He disputes the idea that residents are happy with the program. More likely, he said, is that people don't understand what's happening. They are paying higher bills and not bothering to do the research about whether they are signed for the city rate or whether the rate is competitive.
"You would think that whoever negotiated a rate would be looking out for the consumer," he said.
The lesson? As usual, I'm an idiot.
