Lindenhurst, Lake Villa, Highwood electricity supply costs to drop 52 percent

The partnered communities of Lindenhurst, Lake Villa and Highwood will soon see 52 percent savings in electricity supply costs as part of their new electric aggregation program.

Lindenhurst trustees unanimously voted Monday in favor of a one-year contract with MC Squared Energy Services that is expected to save households $401 per year. MC Squared’s rate of $4.28 per kilowatt hour is almost half of the current ComEd rate of $8.50 per kilowatt hour. The new rate will be effective in mid- to late August.

The three communities, led by Lindenhurst, combined in the bidding process, but each will sign its own agreement. As of the 3 p.m. Tuesday deadline, all three had notified MC Squared of their acceptance of the bid and were negotiating their agreements.

“Our savings is probably a little bit more than the savings you’ve seen from some of the other communities,” Village Administrator Matt Formica told village trustees Monday. “That was a result of the fact that we elected not to go with a broker, and there is not a broker fee included there, so we were able to maximize the savings to the residents.”

Assistant Village Administrator Karl Warwick said the one-year contract was selected because it offered the lowest rates and because many other communities were also signing one-year contracts.

Mayor Susan Lahr noted the village would have the option to extend the contract at the end of one year rather than rebidding. Lahr added that a shorter period is more preferable because this is Lindenhurst’s first time going through the electric aggregation process.

Mayor Frank Loffredo said Lake Villa was considering a two-year contract at one point but decided against it, citing the “volatility of the market.” The one-year rate, he said, was also hard to pass up.

“I think the people should be pleased,” he said. “In this economy, a savings of that magnitude is unheard of.”

Residents and small businesses opposed to participating in the program will have 21 days to opt out once they receive a notice from the village and supplier in the next few weeks. The information will also be available on the village’s website.

“We had hoped that the savings would be around the 30 (percent) to 35 percent range because that’s what we had been hearing, so to have it come in at 52 percent is phenomenal,” Lahr said. “That’s huge. Not using a broker and having talented staff to be able to help us negotiate and fill in that gap really saves our residents money.”