Military Officers Association of America - Mahoning and Shenango Valleys Chapter President Rod Hosler (right) welcomed Barbara Bossart, Ohio Public Utilities Commission’s Reliability and Service Analysis Division, to discuss the state’s Energy Choice Ohio Program and how to shop for residential and commercial gas and electric rates and compare Community Aggregation rates at its Sept. 18 dinner meeting. (Photo by David DiTallo, MSVC-MOAA)

Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) – Mahoning and Shenango Valleys Chapter met Thursday, Sept. 18 at A La Cart Catering in Canfield and welcomed Barbara Bossart from the Ohio Public Utilities Commission to learn about the state’s Energy Choice Ohio Program and Community Aggregations.

A graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., who joined the PUCO in 1999, Bossart is currently the Chief of the Reliability and Service Analysis Division (RSAD) of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, where she is responsible for the monitoring and enforcement of service reliability and consumer protection rules and overall quality of service for the investor-owned electric, natural gas, and water companies, in addition to telephone, household good movers, and retail competitive electric and natural gas companies.

Under the Energy Choice Ohio Program, residential and commercial electric and commercial customers may compare and sign up for fixed and variable utility rates, as well as aggregate rates established by local governments. She emphasized the importance of reading your monthly utility statements to know who one’s generating company is, the rates one is being charged, the length and terms of one’s contract (if one has been signed), and how to use the PUCO’s websites for how to shop for and compare rates.

Bossart emphasized the importance of only visiting websites with “.gov” addresses and never giving out one’s utility account number unless/until one is actually ready to switch. Consumers with questions may contact the PUCO at 800-686-7826.

The Energy Choice Ohio website, popularly known as, “Apples to Apples,” can be found at https://energychoice.ohio.gov/, while Ohio community aggregation rates for comparison are listed at https://puco.ohio.gov/utilities/utility-maps/all-government-aggregators-web-application.

Next month the chapter switches to (third) Friday Lunch Meetings on Oct. 17 when it hosts the Youngstown Bluecoats to present them the chapter’s first ever MOAA Community Grant. Check in starts at 11:30 a.m. and reservations are due Monday, Oct. 13. Current, former and retired commissioned and warrant officers and their current or surviving spouses residing in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania may attend at no cost or obligation.