Residents will see ‘opt-out’ gas aggregation question on Nov. 3 ballot

by Judy Stringer

July 21 city council meeting

Voters will decide in November whether Hudson’s natural gas aggregation program can shift from an opt-in to an opt-out model. With a 6–1 vote, Hudson City Council approved placing the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot, asking residents to authorize an opt-out program that, like the current opt-in version, would let the city negotiate gas rates for households and small businesses — but would enroll customers automatically unless they choose to opt out.

During the June 24 workshop, Buckeye Energy Brokers President Thomas Bellish outlined how the city’s long-running opt-in aggregation has effectively stalled. For roughly a decade, Hudson residents could voluntarily join a group-buying program to secure competitive gas rates. However, Bellish said, the market has shifted. Constellation, Hudson’s long-time broker, exited the residential aggregation business. The city’s next provider, Eastern P&G, later broke its contract, citing insufficient gas storage and steep penalties. A subsequent contract attempt collapsed.

Due to the market turmoil, “we didn’t have a natural gas aggregation through the 25–26 winter,” Public Works Director Kevin Powell told council at the workshop.

With limited prospects for a new opt-in supplier, Powell said moving to an opt-out program may be the city’s only option for continuing natural gas aggregation. Under this approach, eligible residents served by Enbridge Gas Ohio and not already under a separate supplier contract would be automatically enrolled in the city’s program. They would receive a 21-day opt-out notice and could leave the program at any time with no switching fees, according to Bellish.

He argued that opt-out aggregation lets the city use its full customer base to secure more competitive long-term contracts and maintain greater control over renewals and future supplier changes. Bellish added that similar aggregation ballot issues typically pass by wide margins in other communities.

During the July 21 meeting, City Manager Thom Sheridan said the city posted a Q&A about natural gas aggregation on its website to help residents understand the proposed opt-out program. That document can be found at hudson.oh.us/m/newsflash/home/detail/3852.

Rails to Trails

As part of its consent agenda, council passed a resolution that approves an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation to build a new 10-foot-wide paved trail along the railroad tracks between Veterans Way and Barlow Road. While federal funds are supporting the project, the city will manage and contract out the construction work locally. The work will not be completed until 2031.

Sheridan said the city recently purchased the former Norfolk Southern rail corridor for the Veterans Rails to Trails project and that the tracks “are being removed right now,” a process expected to take about three more weeks. The bigger holdup is the federal funding schedule, which moves at a pace set by state and regional agencies rather than the city, officials said.

Once complete, the segment will be the northernmost point of a planned multi-purpose trail extending along the abandoned Akron Secondary Line, a 12.5-mile path that runs from Hudson to Akron.