Buffalo Grove warns of electricity solicitors

Buffalo Grove officials are warning residents to be careful when dealing with solicitors promising lower rates on electricity.

Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch said this week the village has received a number of questions from the public regarding soliciting — door-to-door, by telephone and by mail — from electrical suppliers.

“I want to stress ... that the village has not endorsed, contracted or sponsored any supplier to date,” she said at a meeting of the village board Monday. “We are in that process right now, working to enter into a contract with a supplier.”

She said residents who have been contacted by solicitors can go to the village’s website, www.vbg.org, for recommendations on dealing with them.

She added that village staff is working with the police department to address concerns about solicitors. Customers with concerns about solicitors can contact the police department or the village manager’s office.

Residents contacted by suppliers also should take down the information about the services and rates they are offering and compare that with what’s offered by ComEd, which currently is 7.73 cents per kilowatt hour.

In the meantime, the village is on the verge of choosing the company that will provide electrical aggregation to all residents who don’t opt out of a program authorized by voters last month.

Neukirch told the village board Monday that officials are likely to complete an analysis of the proposals this week and make a recommendation to trustees as soon as next week. The village manager will then draft a contract with the supplier, and then forward it to the village board for approval.

The village has been working with six other area municipalities — Palatine, Vernon Hills, Lincolnshire, Arlington Heights, Wheeling and Long Grove — as part of a consortium serving an estimated 260,000 customers. Their aim is to obtain lower rates for customers on the supply portion of the bill, which, Neukirch said, comprises about 65 to 70 percent of the total.

The consortium is soliciting bids for both a base price option and also an enhanced renewable energy mix alternative.

Once a supplier is chosen, the village will send a letter to residents explaining the program and their choice to opt out of it.