Bartlett residents reject electrical aggregation

After voting it down a year ago, Bartlett residents for the second time rejected a plan for the village to solicit bids from electricity suppliers other than ComEd.

With all 37 precincts reporting in Cook, Kane and DuPage counties - Kane County precinct results added early Wednesday morning - only 1,674 Bartlett voters said “yes” to aggregation Tuesday night, and 4,178 said no, according to unofficial totals.

After aggregation failed to pass in March 2012, the village board discussed putting the referendum on the ballot at the November general election, but decided to wait until April to try again. Trustees Patricia Kelly and Eric Shipman, along with Village President Michael Airdo, said many residents were interested in putting the question on the ballot a second time.

Savings ranged from 35 to 51 percent in more than a dozen municipalities near Bartlett that passed electrical aggregation earlier this year and signed contacts with third-party suppliers, according to information collected by the village staff in August.

Communities that back aggregation negotiate with power companies other than ComEd to obtain lower rates for residents and small business.

In Hanover Township, an electrical aggregation measure passed as well Tuesday.