Star Beacon
October 14, 2006 12:23 pm Click here to order our 10/12/2006 Archive edition.
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By DORIS COOK
Staff Writer
dcook@starbeacon.com
ORWELL - - After much debate Tuesday night, Village Council agreed to a request from Orwell Natural Gas Co. to try again to finalize a new service franchise agreement.
ONG is the village's natural gas supplier. Council and the original company owners entered into the supplier franchise agreement 20 years ago,.
ONG has changed owners twice since 1986. Council in September approved the new two-year agreement lowering the general service rate the gas company can charge it's customers.
This is at the center of the dispute, with ONG officials objecting to the lower rates set in the agreement. ONG lawyers in Columbus gave notice to the village Tuesday they planned to appeal the agreement to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Council had passed the new agreement Sept. 12 with an effective date of Oct. 12. Copies went to ONG last month and council heard nothing until Tuesday's letter came from the company lawyers, Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co.
The rates council set in the new agreement are as follows: $3.35 for the first 100 Mcf gas used; $3.10 from 101 to 400 Mcf; and $3 for amounts over 400 Mcf. Mcf means 1,000 cubic feet of gas, a term used to measure gas usage.
The current GSR is $3.71 per 100 Mcf charged by the supplier, which was adopted by council's agreements in 2001 and 2003 with ONG. The Sept. 12 ordinance repealed these agreements, setting the lower general service rate that the gas supplier could charge.
Council members worked on the franchise agreement since March in committee meetings with ONG officials only showing up one time, Council President David Hartz said.
Hartz voted not to extend the pact another 30 days to resolve the dispute. Six other council members agreed to give it a try to hold talks with another company lawyer, Erik Walter of Dworken & Bernstein Co. of Cleveland.
Walter attended Tuesday's council meeting to request the 30-day delay to avoid both sides arguing the rate dispute before the PUCO.
"We didn't ramrod this ordinance through. We tabled it in August, then put it on it's third reading in September to be passed," Councilman Charles McElroy told Walter.
McElroy said council had put a lot of time and research comparing natural gas costs by other suppliers in Northeast Ohio before wrapping up the final ordinance.
Walter later said the Columbus lawyers were advised Wednesday to halt any action on a PUCO appeal for at least 30 days.
Star Beacon Print Edition: 10/12/2006
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