Elmhurst, IL — Electric Aggregation Program is a system where the municipality is authorized to negotiate power rates for residents’ home electric bills. Since its inception in 2012, the City of Elmhurst’s Program has lowered the average Elmhurst homeowner’s electric bill by $264 by procuring power at rates lower than ComEd’s. Community-wide, the program has achieved total savings of $3.7 million. In addition, the City’s Program has derived 50% of its power from renewable sources, saving 117,000 tons of CO2 from being emitted into the air. The City last renewed the aggregation pricing in the Summer of 2014. After receipt of bids, the City entered into a three-year agreement with Constellation Energy Services with a fixed rate of 7.51 cents per kWh through August of 2017. This rate includes a component of 50% Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).
Since the Summer of 2014, pricing of many commodities have seen an unprecedented drop, resulting in many commodities such as gasoline, seeing decreases of up to 50%. This phenomenon has also impacted electricity pricing, and as a result, ComEd recently released pricing effective June 2016 is less than it was a year ago. For the summer months of June 2016 to September 2016, ComEd’s rate is 06.19 cents per kWh and the ComeEd rate from October 2016 through May 2017 is 6.308 (subject to change in Oct.). In addition, ComeEd’s rates could increase or decrease on a monthly basis variably by ½ cent per kWh. This variable adjustment is also known as the Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA). ComEd’s rate will therefore range from 5.69 to 6.808 cents through June, 2017. These rates and additional information on electric supply pricing, including residential rate offers by other Retail Electric Suppliers (including options with renewable energy), can be found at www.pluginillinois.org .
Given the decrease in ComEd’s rate effective June, 2016, residents and small businesses who are part of the City’s aggregation with Constellation Energy Services should switch back to ComEd in order reduce the cost of the energy supply portion of the bill. The City aggregation program with Constellation has no early termination fee and as such residents can switch back to ComEd by calling Constellation at (844) 309-6307 and having their electricity account number available at the time of the call. While the City’s aggregation program still provides a fixed rate and 50% support of Renewable Energy Credits, residents will save more money by switching back to ComEd at this time. Should the City solicit favorable pricing and a contract for the municipal aggregation program again in August of 2017, residents who switch back to ComEd now will again be included in the
City’s aggregation at that time.
Residents with questions can contact the City’s consultant, NIMEC, at 1-800-727-3820.