A little more than a 50-vote difference means Ironton residents will be enrolled in a program that could potential save them money on their monthly gas and electric bills.

Residents voted in favor of both an electric and gas aggregation, by a margin of 56 and 53 votes, respectively.

Aggregation is when a group of customers join together to form a single, larger customer that buys energy for its members. A large buying group may be able to get a better price for the group members than one can get on his or her own.

In this case, the group of customers is Ironton residents, which, with the passing of the issue, will essentially make Ironton one large buying group.

Ironton will enter an agreement with a third-party supplier, based on Aspen Energy’s assessment of which company can provide the lowest rates.

All Ironton residents will automatically be enrolled in the program unless they already have agreements with third-party suppliers. Residents can opt out of the program at any time.