Joliet to seek cheaper power

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Updated: November 15, 2011 12:28PM

JOLIET — Joliet will join at least a dozen other towns in forming a buyers’ group aimed at delivering less expensive electricity to consumers.

The city is following in the footsteps of two neighboring towns — New Lenox and Crest Hill — that this year used aggregated buying power to seek lower electricity prices for consumers.

City Manager Thomas Thanas said he expects Joliet consumers will save about 15 percent in their electric bills if they switch from ComEd to a new supplier.

First, however, Joliet voters will have to vote to let the city seek bids and switch providers. A referendum on the electricity issue will be in March in Joliet and other local municipalities.

Some other towns planning to join in the buying group are Plainfield, Shorewood and Channahon.

The Joliet City Council voted Monday to move ahead with what’s called municipal electric aggregation, which has been made possible by state laws fostering electricity deregulation.

Thanas outlined to the council how the program would work.

Joliet and other towns working through the Will County Governmental League plan to buy electricity through a broker named DaCott Energy.

“You will still be getting a ComEd bill. That won’t change,” he said. “Residents really won’t see any change. The only change they’ll see is a $15 savings to their bill, assuming a $100 bill.”

ComEd will still send crews out for power outages and other service issues, Thanas said.

If the referendum passes, Joliet consumers will be switched to DaCott Energy unless they opt out. Individuals can choose to continue buying electricity through ComEd through a notification process.

In other city council matters:

A vote is slated for tonight’s meeting on the Cass Street tax increment financing district and a redevelopment project that would be the first to benefit from the incentive program. A developer plans to buy the Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ property and convert it to a small center with an Advanced Auto Parts store and a dollar store. Former Councilman Warren Dorris is pastor of the church, which is moving to a new location.

The council voted 9-0 for a special-use permit needed by Will County to open a group home at 311 Lime St. for eight residents in the Drug Court program. There was no opposition to the plan.

Resident Cathy Schultz, a history professor at the University of St. Francis, cautioned the council against taking away funding from the Rialto Square Theatre, Joliet Area Historical Museum and Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park when making cuts. “There are a lot of people in Joliet who don’t want these (organizations’) budgets slashed,” she said.