The benefits and risks of the city’s various long-term energy options were presented to the Naperville City Council Monday in advance of a vote next month on renewing Naperville’s current electricity contract.
While Naperville still has at least 10 years remaining to its contract with the Illinois Muncipal Electric Agency (IMEA), the agency wants its 32 members to commit to a contract extension through 2055 so it has time to do long-term planning.
After missing IMEA’s first deadline to make a decision by April 30, the council is poised to vote on whether to renew the deal at its Aug. 19 meeting.
At Monday’s workshop, council members heard presentations from its energy consultants, the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST) and members of the city’s Public Utilities Advisory Board.
“I will be the first one to say that all forecasts (are) incorrect. None of us can accurately figure out what’s going to happen in the next 20 years,” Ann Yu, a vice president for Customized Energy Solutions, said at the beginning of her presentation.
Unlike most other municipalities in Illinois, Naperville provides electricity to taxpayers as a local service rather than relying on an investor-owned utility such as Ameren or ComEd. The city purchases energy from IMEA, a joint action agency that offers an already assembled power supply to members at a wholesale price.
Those opposed to renewing the IMEA contract criticize its reliance on coal to generate the electricity provided to the city.
Yu provided a summary of energy options for Naperville moving forward and the pros and cons of each. After exploring all of the choices available, Customized Energy recommends that Naperville continue with the IMEA contract while taking advantage of its Member Directed Resource clause (MDR), which would allow the city to explore other procurement or renewable options for 10% of the city’s peak load, she said.
Using the MDR clause would allow Naperville to have more control over what kind of energy it uses, which could help offset to a limited extent concerns that the city does not have any control over its energy mix, Yu said.
That said, she acknowledged that while IMEA has a plan to shift from its reliance on coal to renewable energy by 2050, it is possible the agency may not meet its energy goals and could rely on coal for longer.
Throughout the workshop, pricing was a central point of debate, with presenters offering different estimates as to how much money Naperville will spend if it renews its contract with IMEA and analyzing the city’s past costs under the current arrangement.
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In a presentation from energy attorney Chris Townsend and energy consultant Mark Pruitt, the pair compared year-by-year wholesale power costs between IMEA and the hedge portfolio for ComEd as managed by the Illinois Power Agency. They found that from 2008 to 2025, IMEA’s pricing was generally more stable due to long-term contracts and hedging, while the ComEd proxy showed more year-to-year fluctuation.
The Public Utilities Advisory Board was split in its recommendation to the council, voting 4-3 in favor of renewing the IMEA contract. For that reason, one presentation was made reflecting the majority opinion and the other for the minority opinion.
Representing those in support of contract renewal, board member Jim Fillar cited cost and reliability as reasons for continuing the partnership, noting ComEd’s recent rate hikes vs. the price stability Naperville enjoys under its current IMEA arrangement.
“As a municipal utility affiliated with IMEA, Naperville will not only avoid price increases compared to our neighbors this year, but several years into the future,” Fillar said.
When asked by council member Josh McBroom why the board recommended continuing with IMEA as opposed to seeking contract bids, Fillar said it’s because it’s unlikely IMEA will wait for Naperville to make a decision and will move forward without the city being part of its contingent.
“We’ve heard over and over and over again there’s no marketer that’ll give us a fixed price power deal starting in 2035,” Fillar said. “It’s probably going to take five years before we’ll get any marketer to give us those kinds of numbers. I don’t think IMEA is going to wait around for five years, in my opinion.”
The board’s minority members told the council that exploring all options is exactly what it should do. They cautioned against renewing a contract without knowing what other choices are available or having a clearly defined idea of what it’s seeking in its next long-term energy contract.
NEST, an official Naperville advisory body since 2019, is adamantly opposed to accepting IMEA’s extension request and urged council members to devise a procurement strategy before doing anything else. In its presentation, NEST raised concerns about IMEA’s continued coal use and maintained that going with IMEA will cost the city more in the long run.
“I find it hard to believe we’re even considering this because coal is shutting down across the country because it’s too expensive, and clean energy is booming because it’s both cheaper and better for the environment,” Joe Hus, chair of NEST’s energy committee, said.