Elburn puts electricity sale to vote

Elburn residents will get to vote in April whether to let the village negotiate prices on electricity on their behalf.

The village board Monday agreed to put a referendum on the ballot asking for “authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such a program,” according to the ordinance.

The referendum was suggested by the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Cooperative, to which Elburn belongs. NIMEC negotiates electricity purchases for its 140 municipal members, which use the electricity to run village halls, sanitary sewage systems, water pumps and more. By aggregating the electrical load, NIMEC can get lower prices for its members than if it purchased electricity individually.

Illinois deregulated electrical power purchases in 1996, and about 75 percent of the commercial load is now bought from suppliers other than ComEd and Ameren, according to David Hoover, executive director of NIMEC. But only a few thousand residential customers have changed suppliers, in part because the individual customer had to initiate the change, he said. And suppliers weren't pursuing the individual accounts, finding it not worth the cost to set up residential billing systems and marketing the plan.

But in 2009 the state changed the law to allow municipalities to institute “opt-out” systems. That means all electrical users would get electricity from whatever supplier the village board chooses; those who didn't like that supplier could opt to leave and choose their own. The village would solicit bids for electricity, which could result in cheaper rates, Hoover believes. The opt-out provision was proposed by state Rep. Michael Fortner of West Chicago.

If Elburn residents approve the plan, it could start as soon as May, the month ComEd typically sets its rates for the next 12 months.

NIMEC would help the village get bids for electricity, and analyze the bids to compare costs.

The electricity would still travel over ComEd transmission lines, and that utility would still be the one responsible for fixing service outages.

NIMEC has about 140 member agencies, with 100 of them being towns, cities or villages. About 20 are considering putting an “opt-out” request on the April ballot, Hoover said.