Mt. Prospect electric supplier 45% cheaper
Mount Prospect, one of several hundred communities to approve electrical aggregation, has chosen an alternative power supplier that will be much cheaper than ComEd.
On Tuesday, trustees chose First Energy, which was one of seven suppliers offering bids.
The two-year agreement has a base price of 4.65 cents per kilowatt hour, which officials said is a 45 percent savings on energy costs over the current ComEd rates. The savings for a typical residential customer would be about $354 per year, officials estimated. ComEd will continue to deliver the electricity and costs for that are unchanged.
Village Manager David Strahl said the rate is better than that negotiated by the consortium of neighboring communities that did not include Mount Prospect.
“Our rates were extremely favorable, compared to the other municipalities. I attribute that to good timing and a good consultant — and brilliance on my part,” Strahl said with tongue in cheek.
The consultant was the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative (NIMEC), whose president, Dave Hoover, was on hand to answer questions.
Most of the discussion involved whether the village board wanted to make a commitment to green energy, such as that coming from wind generators.
Three options were on the table, ranging from .02 cents extra per kilowatt hour for 25 percent green to .08 cents for 100 percent green.
Trustee Michael Zadel was concerned about preserving the original intent of the referendum.
“I'm interested in saving the residents as much money as possible. So I'm not sure I'm interested in any percentage of green at this stage,” he said.
Trustee Arlene Juracek, who, as the head of the Illinois Power Agency, knows something about the issue, assured the trustees that the base price already includes 7 percent green energy.
And Hoover said the residents would have the option of individually going with 100 percent green energy. Going 100 percent green could cost an extra $8 to $10 per year per household, he said. Trustees stuck with the base price of 4.65 cents per kilowatt hour.