Nesquehoning, Packer form power cooperative

A nonprofit power cooperative formed between Nesquehoning and Packer Township is looking for more towns to join, and possibly get paid for doing it.

Broad Mountain Cooperative Municipal Power Agency, which will be known to customers as “Broad Mountain Energy,” is a nonprofit energy company formed between the two municipalities last year.

They are not affiliated with the proposed wind farm on the Broad Mountain in Packer Township.

“Our goal is to provide renewable energy and renewable electric power created in Pennsylvania at the lowest possible rates,” Gary Martini, the co-op’s chief COO of marketing, said.

Martini asked members of the Carbon County Council of Governments to consider joining the co-op. He is also visiting with local officials in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties.

Broad Mountain Energy would only supply energy to customers. They would still get a bill from their local electric company for transmission of electricity.

The co-op is enticing townships to become members by offering a share of the agency’s “excess cash,” which would be paid out at the end of each year after expenses are covered. The amount of excess cash would depend on the number of customers in that borough or township who switched their power to Broad Mountain Energy.

Member municipalities would get a seat on the board after two years.

Martini couldn’t provide specific prices for customers but said it would be about the same as PPL for electric supply, however customers would save by buying energy directly.

“We don’t have stockholders to take care of, we don’t have a lot of the cost and we don’t have to charge a lot of the things you see in the PPL bill,” Martini said.

That would be including the company president’s salary.

Martini said that municipalities would be free to opt out of their memberships without any penalties, and wouldn’t be bound under any contract.

The company will be ready to start supplying customers with electricity in two to three months, Martini said. Their prices won’t be available until then.

Members of the COG asked Martini to identify who is financing the operation. He said he couldn’t because of confidentiality agreements.

Nesquehoning Mayor Sam Kitchko said Broad Mountain is the first co-op formed under a state law which allows municipalities to join together to buy energy.

“Broad Mountain is the first one in the state doing this as a municipality. It had to be two entities in cooperation,” he said.

Jim Thorpe Councilman Jay Miller said the proposal sounded too good to be true. He brought up the infamous streetlight scam which occurred several years ago. Municipal Energy Managers, based in Olyphant at the time, told Nesquehoning qualified it to get a cheaper electric rate and deliver over $1 million in savings over 20 years.

The borough joined other area municipalities, including Lansford, Coaldale and Tamaqua, in hiring the company for lighting services.

A ruling in December 2014 awarded Nesquehoning $1,521,332 in its lawsuit against MEM, but nothing was ever paid before the company went bankrupt.

Martini said this arrangement is different because there is no contract.

East Penn Township Supervisor William Schwab again asked directly about who was financing the project.

He wanted to know if the startup costs for the company would be covered by its investors, or the member municipalities, if his municipality hypothetically joined.

“If we’re responsible for the profit, we’re responsible normally for a pro-rata share of the loss too.”