Hardyston passes on energy co-op

HARDYSTON — The Hardyston Township Council decided at its most recent meeting to decline joining the Morris County Energy Cooperative.
Townshipo Manager Marianne Smith told the Council several other Sussex County towns are considering getting involved. She advised that representatives of the Cooperative have indicated that municipalities who participate have the option of setting a minimum savings threshold as a condition of their actual final involvement. In order to participate in the program, however, the township would be required to commit the kilowatt hours of energy utilization, which would be included in the bid going out to energy supplies. If the stipulated savings could not be garnered through pricing offered by the lowest bidder, then the township could simply opt out of the program.
Smith indicated that representatives of the Cooperative offered to attend a future meeting of the Council to further outline the perimeters of the program and answer any questions that they may have. Several other Sussex County municipalities are either already participating in a municipal-wide energy cooperative or are contemplating joining the Morris County Energy Cooperative. Stanhope, Byram, Stillwater, Fredon and Sparta Township is also considering the offering.
Councilman Carl Miller said he had concerns the last time the Township considered the cooperative concept after he had read the final contracts and felt that there were some provisions that might be unfavorable to residents should market pricing change, despite the fact that the rate should be fixed. He felt that decisions relative to the selection of an energy provider should remain with the individual user and rather than have the municipality take on the decision making for the township as a whole. He would prefer to allow individual users to do their own research and decide whether they wish to purchase their energy from a third party provider or Jersey Central Power & Light, the company that distributes the energy itself.
Based on the overall sentiment of the council, with both Mayor Leslie Hamilton and Councilman Stanley Kula agreeing with Councilman Miller, the decision of the Council relative to the matter was to decline the offer to further investigate the opportunity for cooperative energy purchasing at this time.