electric

Hot weather in August leads to spike in utility usage

The borough manager, Bob Villella wanted to share the following information with the community about August electric usage: August 2016 was the second hottest month of August since 1947.  The 76.0 degree average temperature was exceeded only by August 1995. The hot and humid weather lead to another record usage by the Borough for 2016.  Ellwood City’s customers as a whole used 5,962,000 kWh in August.  This is the highest amount of electricity by Ellwood City since July of 2013. The Borough’s hourly peak usage of 12,773 kW occurred on August 12 at 5 pm.  This peak is higher than…


Electric Comparison: July 2015 vs. July 2016

Bob Villella, the borough manager, wanted the following message forwarded to the residents of Ellwood: “The following information is being provided to inform Ellwood City Electric customers to a comparison of Electric Sold and Purchase Power Adjustment (PPA) or Rate Adjustment in July of 2015 with July of 2016. The Rate Adjustment for July of 2016 (the August bills due in September) will be $0.0135 per kwh. This amount will be added to the electric bill of each user, Residential, Commercial and Industrial. In July of 2015, the Rate Adjustment was $0.0247 per kwh. The reduction in 2016 is equal…


Community Members Concerned About Electric Bills if Hospital Closes

Updated 8/23/16 at 2:16pm. In order to keep its doors open, Ellwood City Hospital is still in search of a partnership. This alone is a concerning topic considering that it’s the closest hospital for Ellwood and surrounding area residents, however, many residents are equally concerned that if the hospital closes they may see an even greater hike in their personal electric bills. The hospital generates a lot of revenue for the borough, if it is to close, it will no longer provide a large portion of the electric revenue. For community members, the impact this will have on the already…


Letter from Standing Up to Ellwood Electric to Ellwood City Borough Council

At the Ellwood City Borough council agenda meeting on Aug. 8, Rob Brough, representing the citizen group “Standing Up to Ellwood Electric,” which has almost 1,200 members, read a letter requesting an informal meeting of citizens and council members to discuss the Ellwood City Electric Department. At the conclusion of the meeting, council president Connie MacDonald met with Brough to set the date, time and place. Because such a meeting would have less than four council members present (the minimum number required to pass legislation), the meeting doesn’t have to open to the public and press. The letter is included…


Standing Up to Ellwood Electric Resource Page and Right to Know Request

Standing Up to Ellwood Electric, a Facebook page created in response to larger-than-average electric bills in the Ellwood City Borough for July’s billing cycle, has grown to nearly 1,200 members. One of the group’s moderators, Dave Gulish, created a resource page available to anyone wishing to learn more about Ellwood’s Electric Department and borough government. On July 20, Gulish filed a Right to Know request with the borough for information including wages, wage increases, overtime wages and general information on the electric department. On July 27, Borough Manager Bob Villella responded with a letter to Gulish stating that the borough…


Eric Ryan Corporation’s Letter to Borough Manager

At Monday’s meeting, Borough Manager Bob Vilella read part of an email he received from Keith Venezie, CEO of the Eric-Ryan Corporation, an Ellwood-based nationally known utility auditing firm. After receiving a copy and permission from Venezie, here is the full email: “Back in March, I became concerned about the increase in the electric cost not only on my personal bills but the community billings as well. I exercised the “right to know” law and the boro complied immediately with my request for contract and billing information. My staff spent several hours reviewing the calculations. Based on the information we…


Borough and AMP Presentations as File Downloads

The following are the presentations giving by Borough Manager Bob Villella and AMP representative Pam Sullivan at the town hall meeting on Monday regarding the electric department. The borough’s is available as a PDF and AMP’s is a power point. Borough Presentation AMP Presentation  


Town Hall Meeting Leads to Potential Future Meeting Concerning Electric Department

Earlier this year, the Eric Ryan Corporation, a nationally-known utility auditing company, obtained information from the Borough’s electric department using Pennsylvania’s Right to Know act. At a special town hall meeting on Monday, Borough Manager Bob Villella read an email he received from Keith Venezie, ERC’s CEO. “Based on the information we were provided, we were able to validate that the borough is being billed correctly by the suppliers based on the contracts that were negotiated and executed, the borough is billing the customers (who’s bills we reviewed) correctly based on the current ordinance, and the PPA that is part…



Electric Meeting Set for Monday

A town hall on the Ellwood Borough Electric Department will be held on Monday, Aug. 1 at 6 p.m. in the borough auditorium. An official from American Municipal Power (AMP) will be present. The electric department has been subject of citizen criticism after bills dramatically increased in July, bringing to the forefront concerns over customer service, billing and the necessity of the department itself. Over 50 visitors attended council’s agenda meeting on July 11 and over 100 at the regular meeting on July 18. A Facebook group titled “Standing Up to Ellwood Electric” has over 1,100 members. Previous articles on…