Cheaper rates coming in 2017 as Abbeville renews electrical contract

When it comes to electricity in the City of Abbeville, a good deal just got better.
The Abbeville City Council announced an extension of its wholesale electrical supply contract with Constellation, an Exelon Company during a special meeting Friday morning.
The council voted 4-0 to sign the extension of the contract, one that will carry a deal with lower rates into 2021.
The new deal will go into effect on June 1, 2017, one day after the city’s previous contract is set to expire. The city’s original contract with Constellation began on Jan. 1, 2014.
“This is always a difficult process,” Councilman Francis Touchet Jr., District B, said. “With all that, we have one of the best electrical contracts in the State of Louisiana.
“The citizens of Abbeville are the true winners moving forward.”
The previous contract took nearly two years of planning. The extension that will kick in during the middle of next year is the result of nearly seven months of work. The city issued a request for proposals for its electrical contract.
“We met with seven different providers of wholesale electricity,” City Attorney Ike Funderburk explained.
Raleigh Cox, of Cox Engineering, serves as the city’s electrical consultant. Funderburk said he and Cox examined the proposals.
“He went through and counted apples to apples,” Funderburk said during the meeting. “We have reviewed the documents that are necessary in order to make a decision to do the right thing for the city. We recommend to the mayor and council that we enter into an extension of the contract.”
Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance worked closely on the negotiations of the extension. He thanked Mayor Mark Piazza and Funderburk for their efforts.
“I appreciate the opportunity to have been part of this,” Plaisance said. “It was a careful study of all the providers and what they recommended. I think it’s an exciting time for the City of Abbeville, that we are able to continue providing electrical rates that are competitive with the surrounding communities.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the citizens of Abbeville.”
Brady Broussard Jr., District C, also worked closely with the extension process, one he said was not always easy.
“This was a complicated process,” Broussard said. “At times it was not apples-to-apples comparisons. We have come to a point where we know this is the absolute best for our businesses and citizens, to keep those affordable rates going.
“It’s a great day for our city.”
Piazza said this simply adds to what is already a good situation.
“We have a very good, affordable electrical contract in place right now,” Piazza said.
The price will be better during the extension, in part because of the price of fuel.
“Because of the price of natural gas,” Piazza said, “that (electrical) price will be even cheaper in the future. If there is a silver lining to the price of oil and gas, this would be probably the only one. With the low price of natural gas, the price of electricity has dropped, and that’s why we have been able to negotiate such a good price.”
That translates into a great selling point for the city.
“Abbeville will soon have one of the cheapest,” Piazza said, “if not the cheapest wholesale power contracts in the State of Louisiana. That says a lot for a town the size of Abbeville, that we were able to negotiate such a tremendous price. We have a good price in place now and this assures that we will be able to offer our businesses and our citizens affordable electrical rates through the 2021, when the extension begins next year.
“There will be significant savings and something our citizens can look forward to.”
Touchet reiterated an earlier point to help drive home the importance of this deal.
“The citizens of Abbeville again are the winners here,” Touchet said. “I cannot say that enough. You think about those elderly people who are on a fixed income. You think about those people who are struggling right now.
“This is something that can help those people get over that hump.”
The mayor said this new agreement marks a nice trend for the city.
“This is the third contract that we have been able to negotiate in the last 15 years,” Piazza said, “that reduces the cost of electricity to Abbeville, its citizens and businesses.
“Hopefully we can continue to do that.”