Morris residents to choose between ComEd, alternative

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Updated: November 3, 2011 9:43AM

MORRIS — Residents have until November to decide if they want to try to save money by leaving ComEd.

In a public hearing before the city council meeting, David Hoover of the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative explained the new option.

In April, Morris voters approved a municipal aggregation program. The referendum measure authorized the city to seek lower electric-service bids from alternate electric suppliers by bundling residential and small commercial retail accounts.

The city will start seeking bids after a second public hearing at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Morris City Hall. If a supplier’s bid is lower than ComEd’s rate, the city may choose to purchase power through the new company.

All eligible residents and small businesses are automatically enrolled in the program, but those who want to remain with ComEd will have two opportunities to opt out of the program by November, Hoover said.

First Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative and then ComEd will mail out documents to all residents allowing them to remove themselves from the program and keep ComEd as their supplier. Those who opt-out can choose to enroll later. New tenants or residents would be ComEd customers, but also could switch later.

ComEd will continue to bill all customers, distribute power through its own lines and handle service disruptions, Hoover said.

Savings to those in the program can be up to $200 per year, Hoover said.

NIMEC is working with 15 of the 19 northern Illinois municipalities that passed the referendum for municipal aggregation in April.

Eight of those communities, including New Lenox and Crest Hill, have already lowered their costs by 20 percent to 25 percent, Hoover said.

Residents have the option to individually lock in lower rates with power suppliers such as Constellation Energy, Direct Energy Services, Integrys Energy Services and Nordic Energy Services, but savings through municipal aggregation are double what residents can obtain individually, according to NIMEC.