Mount Prospect dropping electricity aggregation program

With the village's contract with Homefield Energy set to end in August, Mount Prospect officials have decided to suspend its electricity aggregation program.

"I think we're making the right decision, to just basically let the aggregation go dormant at this point in time and wait for a new opportunity to come forward," Mayor Arlene Juracek said.

The move means residents and businesses now taking part in the program will automatically revert to ComEd as their electricity supplier at the end of August, unless they chose another provider on their own.

"They don't need to do anything, but would be free to shop the marketplace for another supplier," Juracek said.

The decision to end the program came this week after village board members heard from consultant David Hoover of the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative about the "fluctuation and uncertainty" in electricity markets.

Hoover said the lowest bid NIMEC received for aggregation was 6.77 cents per kilowatt hour. ComEd's rate could fluctuate between 6.6 and 7.6 cents, he said.

For an average resident, that could mean spending an extra $8 or saving $82 a year.

Since it began in August 2012, the village's electric aggregation program saved the average household $140, officials say.

But by October 2014, with aggregation rates on the rise, the village was recommending residents switch back to ComEd, which was offering a rate that was lower by 0.5 cents.