Darien May Join Firm To Generate Power

DARIEN, IL – Darien is looking to team up with a local storage unit business to generate electricity for the grid.

That would mean income for both the city and the company.

On Tuesday, City Administrator Bryon Vana told the City Council that the city may build a battery facility with Safeguard Self Storage, 8131 Lemont Road.

"We don't have an agreement in writing yet, but we talked with them about it as recently as last week," Vana said. "They're really very excited, as we are. It's really a win-win for both parties."

As part of the agreement, the city would forgo a planned tax on storage unit complexes for Safeguard because of the electricity income, Vana said.

Mayor Joseph Marchese said more electricity is needed. He cited an analysis showing that Illinois will not be able to produce enough electricity to meet the state's needs by 2030.

The city's treasurer, Michael Coren, asked whether Darien had invited the other storage unit business in town to enter such an arrangement.

Vana said the city had not looked at that possibility, but could reach out to the business.