Politics & Government
Should Northbrook Dump ComEd in Referendum?
March 20 ballot initiative will ask Northbrook residents whether or not they support seeking a new electrical provider.
Northbrook residents wondering about village's proposal to pursue still have some ways of getting the low-down on this March 20 ballot initiative.
In addition to casting their votes for federal, state and county offices, Northbrook residents will be asked if they want the village to act on behalf of its people by bundling electric accounts and seeking bids for electricity on the open market rather than continuing to buy power from Commonwealth Edison.
Along with Deerfield, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Park Ridge and Skokie, Northbrook has formed a group called the North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium, which will seek a single supplier for all the municipalities that have passed a referendum. The consortium was formed to keep consulting costs low and to leverage greater bargaining power for contract terms, according to assistant village manager Phil Kiraly.
Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Kiraly said that the consortium is moving toward early selection of a supplier, in hopes of getting to the market ahead of the more than 300 other communities pursuing electrical aggregation on the March 20 ballot.
If the program is passed in Northbrook, residents will still be able to opt out and remain with ComEd by contacting the utility during a specific time period. Under any scenario, ComEd will remain the distributor of electricity. That means that customers with outages will still call ComEd to report the loss of power, and bills will still come from the same place.
Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Here's how you can find out more:
Hear about it
Northbrook will hold a public hearing on electrical aggregation during the next regularly scheduled board meeting, Tuesday, March 13, at . The event is free and open to the public; anyone is welcome to speak on the matter.
Read about it
Some background information and a list of FAQs about electrical aggregation is posted on the village’s website. General information about community choice aggregation can also be found on the website of the Citizens’ Utility Board.
Or you can check out our past coverage of electrical aggregation on Patch:
Dec. 14, 2011:
Dec. 1, 2011:
Nov. 29, 2011:
Nov. 10, 2011:
Nov. 7, 2011:
June 29, 2011:
April 11, 2011:
March 24, 2011:
Jan. 6, 2011:
