Hudson residents who joined the city’s voluntary, opt-in natural gas program got mixed results depending on when the city locked in a fixed supply rate.
Under the household model used for this analysis, four of six completed contracts with publicly documented rates cost more for gas supply than the utility’s Standard Choice Offer. Two saved money, including the largest modeled benefit during the 2021–22 natural gas price surge.
The Standard Choice Offer, or SCO, is the monthly variable commodity rate paid by most eligible residential customers who have not selected another supplier or joined a municipal aggregation program, according to Enbridge Gas Ohio’s explanation of the program.
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The analysis does not cover the program’s first roughly two years. Hudson says its voluntary opt-in arrangement began in 2014, but publicly available records reviewed for this story did not identify customer prices before late 2016.
Across the six documented contracts, gains and losses largely canceled each other out. The modeled cumulative result ranges from about $18 in savings to about $41 in added supply cost, depending on billing timing assumptions.
Hudson natural gas contract results, 2016–24
Modeled commodity-supply results for a representative Ohio household compared with the utility’s Standard Choice Offer.
| Contract period | Hudson fixed supply rate | Modeled result vs. SCO |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 2016–Oct. 2017 | $3.40/Mcf | About $13–$16 added supply cost |
| Nov. 2017–Oct. 2019 | $3.39/Mcf | About $40–$44 added supply cost |
| Nov. 2019–Oct. 2020 | $2.91/Mcf | About $50–$60 added supply cost |
| Nov. 2020–Oct. 2021 | $2.75/Mcf | About $22–$27 savings |
| Nov. 2021–Oct. 2023 | $4.05/Mcf | About $124–$155 savings |
| Nov. 2023–Oct. 2024 | $3.59/Mcf | About $58–$71 added supply cost |
| Combined documented terms | — | About $18 savings to $41 added supply cost |
Methodology: cleveland.com compared Hudson’s documented fixed commodity-supply rates with the utility’s published monthly Standard Choice Offer rates. The estimate uses a representative Ohio household gas-use profile built from U.S. Energy Information Administration residential consumption and customer-count data, not actual Hudson household bills. Because utility rate changes begin during the month and customer billing cycles vary, the results show the range from two reasonable timing alignments. Distribution charges, taxes, fees and other costs are excluded.
Scope: The analysis covers six completed contracts with publicly documented rates from late 2016 through 2024. Publicly available records reviewed did not identify customer rates for the program’s first roughly two years.
Sources: City of Hudson archived program notices; Constellation enrollment materials; Enbridge Gas Ohio; U.S. Energy Information Administration; cleveland.com analysis.
Hudson voters will decide Nov. 3, 2026, whether to give the city authority to establish a future opt-out governmental natural gas aggregation program. Ohio law requires voter approval before automatic aggregation can take effect, and Hudson City Council records show council adopted Ordinance 26-99 on July 21, directing the question to the ballot.
The proposal differs from Hudson’s historical arrangement. Under the opt-in program, residents chose whether to enroll. Under a future opt-out program, eligible customers would be automatically enrolled if the city established one, but they could decline to participate. Approval of the ballot issue would give Hudson that authority; it would not itself establish a supplier or rate, according to the city’s current ballot FAQ.
Hudson says it is considering the change because its energy broker could not find a supplier that met the city’s standards for competitive pricing, cost stability and consumer value under an opt-in model. The city says an opt-out structure could provide access to a larger supplier pool. Hudson’s FAQ explains the city’s reasoning.
A [previous cleveland.com story](https://www.cleveland.com/summit-county/2026/09/voters-to-decide-if-hudson-should-shop-around-for-better-natural-gas-rates-for-residents.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter_wake_up%202026-09-24&utm_term=Newsletter_wake_up
