Headlines should read -
"Local politicians get there hands on your money threw electrical Aggregation."
Beware of false promises!
Why do we have to opt out instead of opt in?

With over 200 Illinois communities doing this, it should be easy to benchmark Downers Grove's performance on this promise of lower electric rates.

The Opt in vs. opt out question is a serious issue.

The real issue is the Government having the power over your power rates. Stay out of my life government.

ComEd is a distributor of power -- they do not generate power. ComEd currently distributes electric power to us from a company that has been selected for us by the Illinois Power Agency, a governmental body that secures electricity on the wholesale market on behalf of ComEd. We are allowed to opt out of that supplier and choose another. For example, I often hear commercials on the radio for a company called IGS Energy. I am pretty sure that company (and many others) supplies electricity you at a lower price that what we are currently paying. As a matter of fact, most companies available in Northern Illinois have cheaper electricity than the one that was chosen for us by the Illinois Power Agency. It is hard to imagine that anyone will be worse off as a result of this.

Using the opt out model increases savings that can be passed along to the residents (reduced marketing costs, mailers, etc) and takes full advantage of the resources a Municipal government provides the education process (websites, public forums, etc). If you think you can do better on your own as opposed to being included in the buying power of 20 plus municipalities, opt out. No hidden agenda and no man behind a curtain. This is about saving people money. The more we overthink it, the less we save.

Maybe we should just deregulate the market and let the free market set the price? Then all of these companies could compete for our business. And how is the government allowing a monopoly on power providers? Seems to me there is an abuse of power(pardon the pun) there.

It seems to me that an "opt-out" position raises the likelihood of one provider dominating the market and so will likely be able to set prices. Choosing from a variety of resellers in a competitive market should reduce price. Right? Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

If providing an opt-out scenerio for electricity is good for us, how about Telecom or Natural Gas? That is, the village would select one reseller and the residents would have to be aware enough to opt-out.

On the flip side, once a water utility is established, I would hope that the village opens up the system to resellers whereby the village selects one (or more) reseller(s) to provide water service on an OPT-out basis. Right?

In a vibrant and open marketplace, the decision making is done by the purchaser who chooses to b uy (Opt in). It is encumbent upon the reseller to provide sufficient information. I would like to think that a better solution would be for the village to endorse, say, five resellers and let the consumers decide.

If the only way for this to work is for the Village to hand over a monopoly position to a single reseller, than may be this is not such a good idea in the long run.

Ron/Chad, Bruce and others … perhaps we’ve done a poor job of explaining the program or perhaps you’re not aware of the existing electrical market.

First and foremost; you may, today, without the Village, contract for electrical supply with any of a dozen or more companies who have been approved by the State of Illinois to sell electricity to residential customers. (more here: http://www.pluginillinois.org/) These choices are part of the deregulation process which has been in place for some time now (years) and started with larger commercial/industrial customers.

There’s no need for the Village to “endorse” any resellers – they’re already endorsed by the State (here: http://www.pluginillinois.org/Suppliers.aspx).

This is the market at work. You can pick from a variety of traits including green or renewable energy sources, lowest cost only, real-time pricing, etc.

continued …

… continued

All the recent referendum does, is authorizes the Village to negotiate on behalf of residents (much like we do with refuse hauling) for pricing – hopefully advantageous pricing – in much the way other cooperative purchasing efforts are accomplished. Larger volumes of customers may translate into larger discounts from electricity sellers … or not. In fact, the process will be a bidding process and we won’t accept bids which would result in higher electric prices for residents.

CUB (Citizens Utility Board), certainly no friend of ComEd or any other utility, supports aggregation (http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/ciElectric_cubfacts_communityaggregation.html).

Oak Brook, for instance, secured 25%-30% lower rates for it’s residents as compared to ComEd through the aggregation process.

Should you be certain this is a big government initiative, market manipulation, power grab by the VoDG or a big brother effort of some type, simply stay with ComEd. It really is that simple.

Having an ex ComEd VP, Arlene Jurasek, with significant Excelon stock holdings head the IPA should be a red flag even here in the most corrupt state in the union.

Former head Mark Pruitt had the right ideas and was heading in the right direction...so he had to go.

Bob: This is one of those times where my experiences could have been a value to the village. I'm sure the Council intends to offer the citizens a good deal. And so my perspective is from how the reseller is approaching the market.

I am intimately familiar with the world of resellers and aggregators in Telecom. There are many things in common between these kinds of services. I have developed aggregator services and sold them to a couple of telecom market segments. I came this close (two fingers touching) to forming a cellular resale business in the late 80's.

The question of how "customers" are permitted to participate in aggregation services is a key question. Whether customers can opt in or opt out may be an important signal for such things a profit margins and sustainability. Resellers (or aggregators) sometimes low ball in order to induce customers into thinking short term gains are for the long haul. The reseller knows full well that these rates will be reset in 12 months driving prices up. Now I have no way of knowing what the reseller strategy is in this situation but my experiences says the opt in/opt out question is a warning signal.

Everyone is aware of the existing electrical market and everyone understands what is on the Village website, and the discussion is opt in/opt out. Try and keep up, Bobby.

Besides sounding pompous and boring, that garbage analogy explanation is nonsense. Didn't Mr. Beckman, as a commissioner, punch holes in your false claim the Village was looking for a best lowest rate for garbage for residents? He had the common sense there too. Maybe the Village should put him in charge of this.

Mr. F (?),

I apologize for having bored you but please know those comments were for others who may not be as versed in the issue of aggregation. Now that the referendum has passed, we will begin to sort out the best approach to take – if any. Opt in/opt out is but one of a litany of issues of which we will have to decide what we believe the best course for the Village to be. It appears as though you may have an opinion of opt in v. opt out. What might that be?

As with any issue, we are seeking the input of all residents. I assure you, should you or Bruce contact us (or even better, come to a meeting) to discuss the aggregation specifics, you would be welcome and heard. The character limits with Patch make the discussion of issues difficult so let me know if you’d like to meet live for coffee or a cocktail, maybe – I’d be happy to answer any questions you have and hear about your thoughts on the details of aggregation.

continued …

… continued

For other readers, there is more information about this issue to found at the links below:

Village of Downers Grove: http://bit.ly/wOI1Jf
Citizens Utility Board: http://bit.ly/dO0M0k
Illinois Commerce Commission: http://www.pluginillinois.org/
ICC Key Findings Report: http://www.icc.illinois.gov/reports/results.aspx?t=9
Illinois Municipal League: http://www.iml.org/page.cfm?key=7234
Illinois Municipal Aggregation of Electric: http://www.electricaggregation.org/

continued …

… continued

Bruce, to your question about other utilities; indeed Natural Gas markets are deregulated in much the same way – I suspect that too is coming although the residential market appears to be far less developed at this point. With respect to water, long term my guess is that too will follow a similar path but for now, there are far less suppliers (although several North Shore communities are working to compete with Chicago) and the infrastructure far less interconnected.

Please do come by our next meeting and let us know about the warning signs you see. We're very much interested in gathering as much in detail as possible and have had previous presentations made before the Council on this issue from residents with specific experience in utility aggregation processes. Such professional advice is most welcome.

Bob,

You have all the answers always. You seemed very quiet at that last council meeting prior to the election of your favorite guy who sweated it out for the victory. Many of us in the town including Mr. Meaney and Schofield are still waiting for answers on why Mr. Thoman and ultimately Mayor Tully were thrown under the bus in February. We all have good memories and a council election is coming up in 2013. Do you have a long answer that you can type in for the answer? Yes Bob many of us are pissed!

Electric Aggregation in Northern Illinois: Is It Good for the Community?

http://www.dggab.com/content.php?527-Electric-Aggregation-in-Northern-Illinois-Is-It-Good-for-the-Community

Arrogance

"Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfful to seek other than itself."

Khalil Gibran

Mr. Capetta, I certainly don’t have all the answers nor would I ever claim to – ever. I’m sorry you’re upset and I’d invite you to a live conversation, time and place of your choosing. Or if you’d prefer, I’d be happy to meet you at Village Hall before a meeting – just let me know. Perhaps if we talk live rather than in snippets on the web we can come to a better understanding of each other’s feelings about this issue.

Paul, you participated in the discussion of this issue a month ago on Facebook … so assuming you read the posts of others (myself and the Mayor specifically) therein, you know why I do not support Mr. Thoman and you know that I was upfront with the Mayor, you know I asked to have the issue removed so that no one felt embarrassed, put out or “thrown under the bus”.

You might also consider that over the several years, almost all appointments made were unanimous (with two notable recent exceptions; Mr. Waldack who did not support the appointments to the Comprehensive Planning Committee expansion and Mrs. Schnell who once voted against any appointments during campaign season which ultimately caused a policy change for the Council – a good change to be sure but unfortunately we only refer to municipal elections in that policy directive).

Finally, I would remind you of the process itself … there are seven on the Council and this issue did not have the required second to reach discussion.

Bob,

It's Cappetta and you can count on Mr. Crane, myself and many others keeping an eye closely on the going-ons of the council from now until the next 2013 election as well as watching how our future State Representative Sandack and Senator Radongo. We will keep score on the voting records of everyone. DgWatch and www.dggab.com are here to stay Mr. Barnett. Maybe through some education of the voting public in DG and the district, we'll be able to get a 30% voter turnout in the near future. As far as meeting with you goes, I really feel we'd acomplish little because our opinions and view on what good government is are far from one another. Like I have said before, we have 4 council members who will vote as 1 at least 85-90% of the time. I have a good idea what your plans are for the near future in regards to local government and I personally don't agree with much you have done or failed to do. I find it best that we agree to disagree and feel the same way about future State Rep Sandack. We'll have our eyes opened wide and will record and distribute what we see by using all the media channels available. Transparency is something you and Ron like and we plan to put a whole lot of it out there even in the off season.

Back to Electricity...and I mean the kind used to power my house. Its my understanding that a government agency already handles the role now that the Village will be playing in the future. It is also my understanding that this agency is run by the State of Illinois. Is this true? if so, are we not replacing a State run act with a local Village run duty/act. If so, isn't that better? In any case, my electricity costs will be going down, which is good. Should help pay for the Storm Water Utility tax that our Village is about to pass.

nuffsaid – mostly.

The agency you're referring to is Illinois Power Agency who currently purchases power on behalf of residents in the State who choose not do so on their own (we CAN do so on our own right now). That power is then distributed through ComEd.

What the Village may do as a result of the recent referendum is negotiate for yet another supply choice. The theory is that the negotiated rate for the electricity (ComEd would still be the distributor) would provide opportunity for a lower cost due to the volume opportunity for the supplier since they could, unless one opts out, garner a whole Village of new customers at once rather than via individual sales.

Thus if we go forward and are successful, residents in the VoDG would have several choices for electricity supply; ComEd (via Illinois Power Agency), this list (http://www.pluginillinois.org/res.aspx) and a supplier who the Village negotiates with.

Contrary to some of the editorials out there, you retain all choice in who supplies your electricity – not the VoDG. You will pay the supplier for the electricity – not a VoDG entity. We will not decide your supplier for you; we would be providing you with another choice.

Additionally, should this go forward, the Village intends that the approved contract (which you may choose not to participate in) will include a clause that allows the Village to terminate the contract if the supplier cannot beat the ComEd rate in the future.

Mr. Crane,
I deleted your comment as it got too far away from the subject of electrical aggregation (or anything even tangentially connected to the core subject matter ).
Thanks,
Robert