Consultant Looking to Plug In To Elmhurst's Aggregation Bid

Elmhurst will likely approve a contract with a consultant to help residents purchase power from alternate sources if an upcoming referendum on electricity aggregation is approved. The city's Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee Monday recommended hiring the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Cooperative (NIMEC) to help educate residents and solicit bids from power suppliers.

Residents will decide via referendum if they want the city to bundle home and small businesses together and seek bids for electricity on the open market. Other suburbs, including , have recently voted to buy electricity from suppliers other than ComEd.

NIMEC has worked with many of the local towns that have turned to providers other than ComEd for electricity, City Manager Jim Grabowski said. The company not only brings together municipalities and gathers bids on their behalf but also aids in creating governance and operations structures for these new contracts. For example, if the referendum is approved, Elmhurst will have to decide to what extent it wants to require companies use renewable resources in providing power.

If residents approve going forward with electricity aggregation, any household or small business that does not want to participate can opt out.

NIMEC's estimated charge of $.00002 per kilowatt hour, or approximately $34,500 annually, will be built into its bid to the power companies. This charge also includes help with the referendum, including the creation of a brochure and a water bill insert prior to the vote. If the referendum is not approved, the city will not pay anything to NIMEC.

Committee members cautioned that the city can only provide the facts to residents but cannot advocate for the referendum's passage. As part of its efforts to offer information, the committee also asked staff to make a Frequently Asked Questions page on electricity aggregation prominent on the city's website. This would provide clear answers to many questions residents have, including how much the average household can save by changing power providers. According to NIMEC's website, eight communities that saw referendum approvals in 2011 were able to save 20 percent to 25 percent per year.

The Elmhurst League of Women Voters and the Cool Cities Coalition have also pledged to help the city educate voters before the referendum.

Grabowski told the committee that if the referendum is approved and a new provider is found for residents who chose to take part in the program, it is likely that ComEd will eventually lower its rates as well, which means that these consumers could ultimately end up returning to the utility.

The full City Council will consider NIMEC's contract next Monday.