How to get cheaper electricity in Kane County

Residents in most of unincorporated Kane County will save a couple hundred dollars off their electricity bills over the next two years thanks to a new deal inked by county officials this week.

At its peak, the agreement with Texas-based Dynegy Energy Services, LLC, will reduce the per kilowatt hour charge for electricity by more than a penny for all unincorporated residents, except those who live in Aurora and Dundee townships. Those two areas struck separate deals with non ComEd power suppliers for lower rates about three years ago.

Kane County's deal follows more than a year of wheeling and dealing for the lowest non ComEd electricity rate on the market. Voters gave the county the authority to negotiate a better rate with outside providers in April 2014.

The new agreement goes live in August. County residents impacted by the change will receive information from Dynegy about rates and terms in the mail by the end of this month. Unincorporated residents are automatically enrolled into the agreement Dynegy has with the county unless they choose to opt out on an individual basis. Individual households have always had the ability to receive electricity from a provider other than ComEd. But the group buying power of the county helped achieve as low a rate as possible.

ComEd's base rate fluctuates month to month, making the true savings contained in the two-year deal difficult to pinpoint. County officials expect ComEd's base rate will average about 7.145 cents per kilowatt hour from August 2015 to May 2016. During that time, the Dynegy rate for unincorporated Kane County residents will be 6.533 cents per kilowatt hour and decrease to 6.065 cents in the final 12 months of the deal. Kane County officials will establish a website to answer questions from residents about the program.