Electric provider change gets OK

Source Power & Gas was low bidder

SOUDERTON » Beginning Sept. 1, Souderton Borough will have a new electricity supplier.

“We were paying 6.32 cents per kilowatt hour,” Borough Manager Mike Coll said at the Aug. 7 Souderton Borough Council meeting.

When the borough asked for bids for a new contract, the low bidder was Source Power & Gas at 5.107 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.

“What that would do is generate an annual cost reduction to the borough of about $41,746,” Coll said. “The price will remain fixed for 52 months and the estimated reduction in power costs over that life of that contract would be a little better than $180,000.”

The biggest boroughowned electricity user is the sewer treatment plant, he said. The borough’s electricity bills also include the cost of electricity for borough-owned buildings and things such as traffic signals, he said.

With natural gas prices continuing to decline, council member Richard Godshall initially suggested a shorter contract may be wiser than locking into a price that would remain in effect for 52 months, but joined with fellow council members in approving the new contract.

“It shows good savings to the borough, and I think it’s a good move,” Godshall said.

In other matters at the Aug. 7 meeting:

• The board approved a $283,000 bid from Derstine Company, LLC, of Franconia, for a new mechanical bar screen at the sewer treatment plant.

The bar screen is used to

remove heavy items from the waste stream before entering the treatment plant.

“This is to replace a manual bar screen at the headworks with a new mechanical bar screen, something that the plant really has been in need of for many, many years,” Coll said.

“Bidding was extremely competitive, much to our favor,” he said.

The price had been expected to be over $400,000, he said.

• E. Shane Myers ended his term as the board’s junior councilor.

The junior councilor position is open to high school juniors or seniors living in the borough. The junior councilor attends council meetings and can take part in council discussions, but does not have a vote on the board.

“I’ve learned a lot from each of you in leadership characteristics and all about municipal government and I just want to thank you guys a lot,” Myers told the board members.

He said he will be studying business administration

in college, beginning at Montgomery County Community College

“I like business, so this was an interesting look at business and actually seeing how government on a smaller level is run,” Myers said.

He also enjoys working in government, he said.

“Thank you for all your hard work. You did a great job,” council member Dan Houser told Myers, who was the junior councilor since last September.

• Michael Jones, who is starting his junior year at Souderton Area High School, was appointed to a two-year term as the new junior councilor. He will start the position next month.

• Edward Huber was reappointed to another fiveyear term on the Souderton Borough Planning Commission. The term runs through July 2, 2022.

• John U. Young was reappointed to another fiveyear term on the Souderton Industrial Development Authority. The term runs through Aug. 4, 2022.