The village of Niles has chosen a new electricity supplier for residents and businesses that take part in the Niles Electrical Aggregation Program.
The village considered its options, ultimately choosing IDT Energy. Homefield Energy has been the energy supplier for the program since June 2013. Its contract with the village lasted for two years.
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During the 2013 municipal elections, Niles voters approved a referendum that established the Niles Electrical Aggregation program. The program lets the village negotiate the electric rates for all residents and small businesses that chose not to opt out. Once the rates are negotiated, they will remain the same.
As the baiduhai reported at the time, after the referendum, Niles signed a two-year contract with Homefield Energy. The Collinsville, Ill. based supplier offered the cheapest rate out of all the bidders, and it agreed to provide 24-hour customer service in multiple languages. The agreement stated that, if ComEd’s rates drop below Homefield’s, the program would use ComEd as the supplier.
The contract with Homefield expires on June 1, 2015. Because of this, the village went out to bid to see if any other supplier would provide a cheaper rate.
During the April 28 Board of Trustees meeting, Synergy Power Solutions, the village’s energy supplier consultant, gave a presentation outlining the results of the bidding process and what that would mean for Niles residents.
According to the presentation, New York based IDT Energy was chosen as a supplier because it offered lower rates than both Homefield or ComEd. IDT’s rate will be 6.899 cents per kilowatt hour, while Homefield’s rate was 7.631 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh) and ComEd’s was 8.072 cents per kwh.
The presentation noted that the new contract has a “blend and extend” clause, which will allow the village to renegotiate the contract if the ComEd rate falls below IDT’s.
The presentation also touted the fact that IDT’s customer service, sales and administrative teams for the region or located in Illinois.
A village of Niles press release said residents and small businesses that are already part of the electrical aggregation program will be automatically switched to the new supplier. For residents who want to opt out or opt in to the program, the situation will be more complicated.
“If residents have previously opted out of the Niles Aggregation Program, they will remain opted out,” the statement said. “If residents wish to now join the Electrical Aggregation Program after having previously opting out, they may contact IDT Energy for enrollment.”
According to the village website, residents and small businesses can do that by phone at (877) 887-6866 or online at http://idtenergy.com/VillageofNiles/.
The contract with IDT Energy takes effect on June 1 and will expire in June 1, 2017. According to the village website, residents who choose to opt in to the program will be switched to IDT “within 30 days of June 1.”
To inform the residents about the program, the village set up a page on its official website at http://www.vniles.com/391/Municipal-Electric-Aggregation.
Niles Assistant Village Manager Hadley Skeffington-Vos said that the program has several advantages.
“This service takes the burden off residents and helps greatly reduce the number of incidents where residents, especially ours seniors, are misled into programs where they are paying sometimes double what they should be paying for their energy,” she said.
Igor Studenkov is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.