NIMEC Director Offers More Details on Electrical Aggregation

A little less than a week after Darien residents to allow the city to negotiate bulk electric rates on their behalf, on Monday held the first of two public hearings on the topic.

NIMEC Director David Hoover took questions from aldermen about how the practice of electrical aggregation will work, but no residents outside the elected officials participated in the hearing. 

One revelation that surprised some members of the council: In terms of business customers, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) recently ruled that only small businesses that use 15,000 kilowatt hours or fewer of electricity per year can aggregate with residential customers. Hoover said such a business would be roughly the size of a dry cleaner. (All residential customers are eligible to participate.) Businesses with electricity use equivalent to that of a large fast food restaurant or greater cannot participate in the city’s aggregation program.

“(The ICC) ruling will exclude most of your small businesses that would have been eligible,” Hoover said. 

NIMEC will help the city secure a fixed rate for a one- to three-year term. The rate will stay the same during the chosen period regardless whether it’s a particularly hot summer with high energy use or a cool one with lower than average power consumption, Hoover said. 

There are about 22 suppliers authorized to sell residential power, he said. NIMEC will help the city narrow that number down to a short list of six to nine which it will take out to bid. 

Two weeks after the city approves a contract with a supplier, residents will receive letters in the mail asking them if they want to opt out of the program, Assistant City Administrator Scott Coren said.

Nearly all residents will automatically be enrolled unless they opt out, Hoover said. The exceptions are customers who already have a contract with an electrical supplier other than ComEd and residents who are on certain specialized rate plans.

Those residents are welcome to opt in to aggregation at any time, Hoover said, but they aren’t included by default because switching over could trigger cancelation fees from their old suppliers.

The city will hold its next hearing at 7 p.m. April 2, just before the evening’s City Council meeting. If all goes as planned, the council will accept a rate or give City Administrator Bryon Vana the authority to secure a rate at the April 16 City Council meeting, Coren said.

“We plan to be among the first communities to go to market,” Coren said.

Read the city's proposed electrical aggregation plan of governance here.