Council approves fixed-rate electricity contract; debate centers on Rogers High School billing

The Newport City Council approved a multi-year contract to fix electricity supply rates with Constellation Energy for the period beginning late 2026 through Dec. 20, 2030. Finance staff presented a negotiated per-kilowatt-hour supply rate cited in the meeting as 0.1236 $/kWh (noting market volatility) and said the contract is budgeted.

A prolonged council exchange focused on an unrelated but consequential billing problem: during Rogers High School’s recent construction a new meter was issued and was automatically enrolled in a community-choice aggregation or separate third-party supply rate, producing a high bill at about 16.2¢/kWh and an overage that the school department plans to address. City purchasing and finance staff told the council there was no contract tied to that new meter, and that the proposed Constellation contract would prospectively fix rates and could be used to add the Rogers account to the citywide contract to reduce future charges. Staff estimated prospective savings for the Rogers High School account of roughly $3,000 per month at more recent market rates.

Councilors pressed whether approving the Constellation contract would forfeit the city’s ability to recover past overcharges from the prior supplier. Staff said adding Rogers to the city contract is separate from any potential recovery from the prior provider and that retrospective adjustments are difficult; councilors were advised that negotiations over historical charges would be with the prior supplier, not Constellation.

The council voted to approve the contract and authorized staff to finalize terms. Staff said the contract will provide budget predictability by insulating the city from energy market volatility for the covered accounts, though market-based adjustments and account start dates vary by meter.