Politics & Government
New Electrical Rate Could Mean 41 Percent Savings for Glencoe Residents
The North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium announced Tuesday that customers will be charged 4.83 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium announced Tuesday afternoon that area residents will save around 41 percent on their bills.
Glencoe, along with the seven other communities involved in the consortium, will receive "one of the largest aggregation groups under a single form agreement in Illinois," according to a press statement released Tuesday.
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The entire consortium, serving an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people along the North Shore, will be enrolled into the new rate system, Glencoe Assistant Village Manager William Jones told Patch.
All of the municipalities, which include Glencoe, Highland Park, Deerfield, Skokie, Lake Bluff, Northbrook and Park Ridge, adopted the necessary ordinances by April 6, according to Jones.
Find out what's happening in Winnetka-Glencoewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Following these approvals, MC Squared obtained pricing in the electricity market the week of April 9 and returned with the 4.83 cents per kilowatt-hour number.
"We've locked in at 4.83 through the May 2013 ComEd billing cycle. The current ComEd residential rate is 8.233 cents per kilowatt-hour," Jones said.
The consortium approved the rate on April 12, he added.
“This figure is actually a little bit better than what our consultant estimated,” Jones said. “As of today we’ve achieved a rate that’s 41 percent below ComEd’s current rate.”
This number will go into effect on June 1, and be reviewed in May 2013 to ensure it is still a competitive rate, Jones said. By that time the savings could be a little lower, depending on market fluctuations.
"I think it's an extremely good rate; I think it's as competitive as anything we've seen," said Max Slankard, Skokie's director of public works. "We're pretty excited for our residents and our small commercial business customers."
"When the switch from ComEd to MC Squared will take place depends on ComEd's meter reading cycles and then power will start to flow in June," Slankard said.
While savings start in a couple of months, Jones said he and other local officials are happy rates will be lowered in time for peak summer months.
"We couldn’t have done this if it was just Glencoe, we needed all eight communities in the consortium to get this done in a quicker fashion," he said.
On March 20, voters in all eight Consortium municipalities approved a referendum authorizing each municipality to operate an “opt‐out” electricity aggregation program for its residents and small businesses.
* Editor's Note May 24 3:50 p.m.: The Consortium is comparing its new rate to a ComEd rate of 8.23 per kw hour. The actual ComEd rate is 7.73 through May 2012.
