Barrington nearly ready for electricity aggregation

Barrington officials are nearing the implementation of a cost-saving electricity aggregation program which village voters authorized them to pursue in March.

The village board held a legally required public hearing Monday on the plan of operation which staff drafted last month. A final public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, May 14, at village hall, 200 S. Hough St.

“It’s basically a guidebook we’re going to follow as the aggregator,” Barrington Public Works Director Dennis Burmeister said.

With the plan to be approved by the board at 8 p.m. the same night, the village’s next step will be obtain bids of potential electricity suppliers — which are required to meet or beat ComEd’s soon-to-be announced annual rates, Burmeister said.

Bids are expected to be opened on May 23 and a contract could be approved as soon as the next day.

Officials expect customers to see a savings of about 15 percent from current electric bills, Burmeister said.

Among the questions that won’t have answers until after the bids are reviewed is whether Barrington would partner with one or more other communities on a contract as well as how long — either one year or two — that contract will be.

The village will begin receiving electricity from the new supplier about 60 days after the contract is signed, Burmeister said.

Barrington households that already have opted out of ComEd service can join the village’s new aggregation program with two months’ notice. So those who join when the contract is signed would receive power from the new supplier as soon as those who haven’t opted out.

However, it’s not guaranteed that those who’ve opted out previously will receive the same rates if they join the village’s aggregation program.

Of the village’s 3,600 residential electricity accounts, about 114 are currently receiving electricity from an alternate supplier, Burmeister said. There were only about 20 such households a year ago, he added, an indication of how aggressively suppliers have been marketing themselves recently.