CENTERBURG – The Village of Centerburg will be switching to Del-Co water soon, and village administrator Joe Hardin provided village council with updated details on the transition during this week’s council meeting.
Hardin said water will officially be transferred over to Del-Co on Oct. 1, and there will be no need for a boil advisory, as Del-Co will have connected to the village’s water system prior to that day.
There will likely be discoloration in the water, councilman Rusty Griffith noted, because of a “change in chemistry.” Griffith said “it could be two days, it could be 20 days” until the discoloration stops, as cases will vary widely. The water will still be safe to use, however.
Water pressure will stay the same for village residents because Centerburg will still use the same water tower.
Del-Co representatives will be at Centerburg’s town hall on July 14 (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Aug. 18 (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) for residents to stop by and register for the new service. Representatives held their first introductory session on June 13. The process takes approximately 20 minutes, Hardin said.
Centerburg is also nearing the end of its contract with Direct Energy, the energy supplier for the entire village.
Council approved Hardin’s recommendation to leave Direct Energy and contract with AEP moving forward, citing Hardin’s rate comparison.
Direct Energy offers a 24-month contract at 5.413 cents per kilowatt hour, while AEP offers a 28-month contract at 4.902 cents per kilowatt hour.
Hardin said the AEP contract can go up to 40 months, which would lower the rate to 4.816 cents per kilowatt hour, although rates change by the hundredths of a cent each day.
“This rate I am told, by AEP Energy, is the lowest that it’s gone for kilowatt per hour in quite some time,” Hardin said. “AEP Energy seems to be considerably lower. And Direct Energy may offer a longer term as well, but because they’re considerably higher on the others, I wouldn’t look for them to be competitive at the 40-month rate that AEP offered.”
Hardin said he also pulled quotes from other energy companies and none came close to AEP’s rate.
“Four cents per kilowatt hour is cheap, it really is,” councilman Greg Myers noted. “Not cheap, but cost-effective.”
Council passed a resolution authorizing Hardin to enter into the 40-month contract with AEP. He will alert council of the final rate when he signs.
