Homer Glen needs to consider electric option for residents

The Village of Homer Glen, should be among a dozen communities offering residents a chance to potentially lower their electric bills. But first, voters should say yes to a referendum question on the ballot. If voters approve, they could start seeing lower rates. Homer Glen should follow New Lenox and Glenwood asking the voters for permission to buy electricity for them. Despite the Village of Homer Glen having home rule, deciding something so important to residents, definitely makes a referendum appropriate. Homer Glen should consider a similar measure in next year’s elections, because this could save taxpayers money.
Since the deregulation of the electric market in 1997, many villages have saved thousands of dollars by purchasing their electricity through a consortium — the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Cooperative. Empowered by a recent change in state law that allows residents to stay with ComEd by choosing to “opt out” of any deal the village makes, residents can’t lose. Villages and counties can include residential and small business users in the consortium, resulting in even greater buying power. Through NIMEC, villages solicit bids and purchase electricity from a supplier only if the price is lower than ComEd’s.
Since deregulation, very few residential users have left ComEd for a lower-cost supplier, while 76 percent of the commercial market has taken advantage of lower costs, according to NIMEC. All billing still would be done through ComEd, and the utility would continue to respond to power outages.

http://www.examiner.com/will-county-libertarian-in-chicago/homer-glen-needs-to-consider-electric-option-for-residents

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