Village Selects Electric Provider to Lower Rates

The village has selected an electricity provider that will offer lower rates for all residents, unless they opt out of the aggregated plan.

In April, about 60 percent of voters favored a referendum that gave the village the authority to seek lower, aggregated electricity rates for residents. Following , the village received eight bids.

Public Works Supt. Ron Sly said he couldn't yet divulge which company the village decided on, but that residents' rates will be lowered as a result.

"That’s the whole purpose of doing that is we’re going to see some savings here," Sly said. A confidentiality agreement with the bidder prohibits the village from announcing the provider before the company does, but Mayor Tim Baldermann said the announcement should come sometime in the next week.

This has been an option for Illinois residents to do on their own since 1997, when electricity was deregulated, but few have done it. This year, municipalities were allowed to seek aggregated prices for the entire village.

David Hoover, director of the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Cooperative, said he anticipates this could lower electricity rates for residents by 15-20 percent, or about $125 per year.

Besides lower electricity bills, not much will change for residents. Billing and outages will still be handled by ComEd, which is no longer an electricity provider but a distributor. If residents wish to remain with ComEd, they will have the choice of opting out.

Baldermann mentioned that since the village passed the referendum, electricity providers have been advertising and contacting residents to get them to switch to their service. But the mayor clarified those providers are independent from the village’s agreement and that residents are more likely to get better rates in the aggregation than doing it on their own.

“Because we are aggregating a larger mass, the providers have been a lot more competitive to offer lower rates,” Hoover said.