Electric Aggregation Meeting Scheduled for March 3

Got questions about the March 20 electric aggregation referendum?

Residents are invited to learn more at an informational meeting scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, March 3, at Village Hall, 1050 W. Romeo Rd.

As part of efforts to lower electric bills for residents and local small businesses, the village has placed a referendum on the March 20 primary ballot, asking voters for the go-ahead to join with 23 other communities to aggregate, or combine, electric loads and seek bids for the cheapest rate possible.

The plan would align Romeoville with other members of the Will County Governmental League, including Bolingbrook, Lemont, Plainfield, Joliet and Lockport, in seeking an alternative to ComEd’s rising rates. The league would act as a broker on behalf of member communities to seek competitive bids from alternative power suppliers in northern Illinois.

Hugh O’Hara, transportation director for the governmental league, explained that the proposal would “bundle” residential and small commercial electric loads together to seek bids from alternative power suppliers. Bids will only be considered from providers offering rates lower than ComEd’s prices.

“You can generally beat the market if you go out on your own,” O’Hara said during Wednesday’s village board meeting.

The deregulation of Exelon, Commonwealth Edison’s parent company, makes it possible for communities to negotiate for cheaper rates.

Illinois deregulated electricity in 1997 in order to open the marketplace to competition. Before a January 2011 court ruling, electricity companies new to Illinois had no efficient way to deliver their product to consumers because the infrastructure is owned and maintained by ComEd.

The ruling allows new electricity providers to use the existing infrastructure and bill consumers through ComEd, Romeoville’s current electricity supplier.

That means that while the power supplier will likely change under the aggregation plan, ComEd will continue to deliver electricity.

“ComEd’s role is basically the same,” O’Hara said. “If the power goes out, you still call ComEd. If you have an issue with your bill, you still call ComEd.”

Under the plan, customers will still receive their monthly power bill from ComEd; what will change is the supply portion of the bill, O’Hara explained.

Twenty-three members of the Will County Governmental League have placed an electrical aggregation referendum on the March 20 ballot. That represents 201,000 households and 563,000 residents, O’Hara said.

The referendum will appear on on the March 20 ballot in this form:

“Shall the village of Romeoville have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial customers who have not opted out of such program?”

Even if the referendum passes and an agreement is reached with an alternative power supplier, residents will still be able to opt out of the deal. Before making the switch, the village will send out two mailers notifying residents and giving them the power to opt out.

Want more information?

In addition to hosting the March 3 informational meeting, Village Manager Steve Gulden said the village plans to send out fliers to residents with more information on the proposal.

Details are also available online at www.willelectricaggregation.org, and residents can email questions to questions@willelectricaggregation.org.