Carbon County will save approximately $75,000 under its new electric contract.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners approved an agreement with Talen Energy Marketing LLC of Allentown for the purchase of electricity for 40 county accounts at a price of 5.579 cents per kilowatt hour as recommended by Ingram Engineering of West Chester. The new 48-month contract goes into effect in April 2020.

Jason Ulshafer of Ingram Engineering said that the company utilized Apollo Edison of Spring City, the company the county authorized in August, as the Pennsylvania registered auction platform for the auction.

Until now, the electricity auctions were done publicly at a commissioners’ meeting, but Ulshafer said that the company decided on a different route because the market is at a five-year low and waiting for a public auction a few months from now could have affected the price.

There were 16 bidders and a total of 62 bids on 12-, 24-, 36-, 48- and 60-month contracts.

“It was a very successful auction,” Ulshafer said, noting that Carbon County will save approximately $18,000 a year with the new rate. Currently, Carbon County pays 6.281 cents per kilowatt hour through TriEagle Energy of The Woodlands, Texas.

Carbon County began holding electric auctions following the 2010 electric deregulation and rate increases. With the deregulation, the county would have been paying PPL Electric around 30 percent more for its electricity than it had been.

In 2009, Carbon paid $700,000 — between 8 and 11 cents per kilowatt hour — to power all of its buildings.

Carbon County uses approximately 2.7 million kilowatt-hours annually.

This is the fifth time Carbon has bid out its electricity.

In other matters, the county commissioners addressed why it chose to move $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from Banks Township to Family Promise during the required public hearing.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the county looked at projects and Banks Township was not yet ready to move forward with its street project.

“Banks is not ready to go, however we are committed to that money we previously awarded to Banks so that will be returned at a later date,” Commissioner William O’Gurek said.

Nothstein thanked the township for its willingness to shift the money to Family Promise so it can be used to purchase the former St. Francis of Assisi Church and rectory in Nesquehoning for use as a new homeless shelter location.

“It’s another great example of what public and private entities can do when you work together,” Nothstein said.