HOWLAND — Officials are taking steps to secure competitive pricing while giving more options for resources in the township — starting with a pair of resolutions.

At Thursday’s regular meeting, trustees approved entering a contract with Buckeye Energy Brokers of Akron for energy purchasing and load-aggregation consulting services. The service is at no cost to the township.

Trustees also approved endorsing Eastern Power and Gas LLC as the township’s preferred supplier of natural gas for residents and business owners.

The program will supply gas for 19 months, at a rate of $4.70 per MCF from March 1, 2026, to September 2027, excluding any applicable taxes or administrative fees.

The resolution states that it is an “opt-out” program, meaning residents and business owners who are not under contract and those who were automatically included in the current program will be automatically included in the new program.

“Those who opted into the current program or other suppliers will have to opt into the new program to participate,” said Trustee James LaPolla.

Administrator James Pantalone said the township has been with Constellation Energy for the past couple of years, but the contract is ending at the end of February 2026.

“I spent some time with brokers and got some opinions back from them and their information and right now, we’re looking at the gas aggregation only,” Pantalone said.

Pantalone said the township was going with a 19-month deal because it puts them in a better position compared to negotiating in the winter months.

“Negotiating in December and January is a tough time — your prices are up, so we looked at a shorter one, maybe a nine-month (deal) to get us in next year,” Pantalone said. “It just wasn’t working out. So we went with the longer one. It’ll really situate us better.”

LaPolla said he and Pantalone sat down with NOPEC and got their proposal, but Pantalone said it pushed prices to the “low fives”.

“They were really not a big gas aggregate company, they were pushing their electric,” Pantalone said. “(In) the next couple of months, we’ll be looking at whether we’re going to do an electric aggregation as well.”

A news release from the township on Friday said eligible residents and businesses can expect to start receiving mailings about the new program in the second half of January.