Mokena Village Board Eyes Electrical Aggregation

The Mokena Village Board and the Village's staff have been busily working towards what could possibly be big development for Mokena. At the Village Board meeting on Monday, Sept. 26, held at the ,  board members heard the first in a series of presentations on electric aggregation.

Electric aggregation is a shift in the way electrical energy is purchased by homeowners and municipalities across the U.S. And specifically in Northern Illinois by the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative, or NIMEC.

Larry Shover, a representative from NIMEC, spoke before the board about what NIMEC could do to help residents and businesses in Mokena and what electric aggregation could mean for the village.

“The bottom line is, we are trying to lower everybody's ComEd bill,” Shover said.

Shover added that deregulation is the reason that ComEd split into two companies, ComEd and Exelon. He said that while ComEd is the company that transfers, Exelon is the company which makes the actual power and that there are several other companies that can also make power.

Shover said about 80 percent of commercial property uses some form of electrical aggregation, while less than 5 percent of private homes do. He said that while the number of home owners who use aggregation is growing, it is still a relatively low number. However, the early adopters are seeing benefits on their bills.

“Current customers are saving about a $175 per resident and I think that's meaningful savings in the customer’s pocketbook,” Shover said.

Though electrical aggregation could save money for most residents in the Mokena, Public Works Director Lou Tiberi was quick to point out this was only an information gathering session and that no action would be taken, yet.

“It's out there, New Lenox [switched to] it and some of our residents heard about it so there were some questions out there,” Tiberi said. “So, we just thought it was prudent to look into.”

Besides New Lenox, a move towards power aggregation, as detailed by Frankfort Patch Editor Joe Vince previously. 

If the board does decided to make a move towards electrical aggregation, the matter must be put on the upcoming ballot as a referendum and be approved by voters. From there, NIMEC would seek bids on Mokena's behalf and power would switch over by the end of the summer following the passing of the referendum.