Ohio Grants Waiver In Order To License Schools Aggregator

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio granted a waiver requested by the Ohio Schools Council (OSC) in order to allow the Council to become licensed as a natural gas broker and aggregator

OSC is a regional council of governments that has operated a natural gas purchasing program for its public school district members and other participating public school districts since 1986 under PUCO's "self-help" natural gas choice program. OSC said that governmental entities that are not public school districts seek to participate in OSC's natural gas purchasing program, which prompted OSC's application for PUCO certification as an aggregator to serve such non-public entities

However, PUCO's application process requires evidence of the applicant's registration with the Ohio Secretary of State

OSC said that it is a regional council of governments created under R.C. Chapter 167. OSC said that, as a political subdivision, it is not required to register with the Ohio Secretary of State; rather, pursuant to R.C. 167.04(D)(1), it must register with the Ohio Auditor of State.

OSC therefore sought a waiver of the requirement to file proof of registration with the Ohio Secretary of State, which was granted by PUCO

"Given that OSC has registered as required with the Ohio Auditor of State, the Commission finds that OSC's request for a waiver should be granted. We emphasize that our approval of the requested waiver is limited to the specific circumstances of this case, in which the application for certification was filed by a regional council of governments," PUCO said, in granting the Council a natural gas broker/aggregator license to serve non-residential customers at Columbia Gas and Dominion East Ohio

OSC’s membership includes 200 school districts, JVS, ESC and DD boards, located in 33 counties and serving over 500,000 students.