Village of Jacksonville Voters — Natural Gas Aggregation is on the Ballot!

SOPEC is pleased to announce that there will be an opt-out natural gas aggregation ballot measure on the November 2023 General Election for voters living in the Village of Jacksonville, Ohio.

Always Ready to Support Jacksonville Voters

If you live in the Village of Jacksonville and are interested to learn more about community choice aggregation before you vote, we’re here to help!

As a public organization, SOPEC is prohibited from persuading voters how to vote. However, SOPEC is committed to helping voters understand natural gas aggregation by providing valuable education before they vote.

What will I see on my ballot?

Natural Gas Aggregation

Shall the Village of JACKSONVILLE have the authority to aggregate the retail natural Gas loads located within the incorporated areas of the Village, and FOR THAT purpose, enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural Gas, such aggregation to occur automatically except where any person elects to opt-out, in accordance with section 4929.26 of the Ohio revised code?

YES = I WILL ALLOW AGGREGATION | NO = I WILL NOT ALLOW AGGREGATION

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

• Deadline to register to vote: October 10, 2023

• Early voting: Begins October 11, 2023

• Absentee: Request your absentee ballot by October 31, 2023

• Mail in absentee ballots: Postmarked by November 6, 2023

• Election day: November 7th, 2023 (absentee ballots can still be returned in person to your board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on election day)

How to Request Your Absentee Ballot

“The deadline to request an absentee ballot is seven days before the election in which you want to vote. If mailed, absentee ballots must be postmarked by the day before the election in order to be counted. You can also return your absentee ballot in person to your county board of elections before the close of the polls at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

Did you know… Jacksonville is already a SOPEC community with Electric Aggregation!

Voters living in the Village of Jacksonville will decide if they will authorize their local government to aggregate, or bundle, the natural gas usage of all eligible residential and small business natural gas utility accounts to see if a competitive retail natural gas supplier can offer a competitive rate on the supply portion of everyone’s natural gas bill. If passed by voters, residents would be allowed to opt-out of a natural gas aggregation program, if they don’t want to participate and instead receive the standard choice offer from Columbia Gas of Ohio.

Leading up to the election, SOPEC will be providing educational materials in various ways to assist residents in understanding the measure and to provide resources about community choice aggregation in Ohio. As described on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio website:

“Ohio’s law allows for local government aggregation by cities, townships or counties… An aggregator is a person or organization that brings a group of customers together. A large buying group may be able to get better terms for the group members than you could get on your own. This “buying power” may also allow aggregators to negotiate for additional benefits for the group’s members such as consolidated billing, energy management services and energy use analysis.”

SOPEC is the leading public energy aggregator in the region, serving 31 communities and political subdivisions in Ohio. If a community passes electric or natural gas aggregation on their local ballot, they can join SOPEC. They are welcome to join SOPEC before, too.

SOPEC can arrange, as part of a Master Supply Agreement, opt-out electric/natural gas aggregation programs for the communities it serves, which automatically enrolls all eligible residents unless they individually opt-out of the program (decide not to participate).

Once aggregation is in place in a community, some residents will not be eligible to join automatically. Those on income-based payment plans (Ohio PIPP), those already in a supply contract, or those served electricity/natural gas by a rural electric cooperative or municipal utility would not be affected by electric aggregation — those customers stay as is.

SOPEC is a public service organization that provides energy planning services to improve public infrastructure, save taxpayer money, and advocate for consumer rights and protection. Member communities that join SOPEC collaborate on regional energy issues at no cost to local governments.