Aggregated Electric Issue on County March Ballot

Residents of unincorporated Kane County, along with 18 municipalities that lie totally or partially within the county�s borders, will be asked in the March 20 General Primary Election if they want their respective governmental units to move forward with bulk or aggregating electric power purchases on their behalf.

The County, Cities of Elgin and Aurora, and the Villages of Huntley, Algonquin, Barrington Hills, Big Rock, Burlington, Campton Hills, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Gilberts, Hampshire, Hoffman Estates, Maple Park, Montgomery, Pingree Grove, South Elgin and West Dundee will ask voters:

�Shall the [governmental body] have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such program?�

According to the Office of Kane County Clerk John Cunningham, voters wishing solely to cast a ballot on the electricity issue or other referenda can request a non-partisan ballot at their respective polling place or during early voting.

Similar initiatives passed in Elburn, North Aurora and Sugar Grove a year ago.

The benefits of such an arraignment, according to claims of its proponents, are the types of savings people generally realize when they shift their purchases to wholesale from retail - i.e. someone on their behalf purchases a commodity in much larger quantities or bulk and passes the savings along to them.

In this case, Kane County or the municipality involved would purchase electric power in bulk on behalf of its residents and shopkeepers and pass the lower electric utility rates onto them.

According to the Illinois Municipal Aggregation of Electric (IMAE), it�s a six step process:

1. The governmental unit approves the placing of the question or referendum on the ballot
2. Same unit chooses an aggregator to help with creating the referendum, notifying the community, negotiate with suppliers, transition residents, coordinate with the utility, answer community questions and otherwise manage the process.
3. Residents vote the question up or down in the next local election
4. If the referendum is approved by voters, the chosen aggregator begins to negotiates rates with multiple national and regional suppliers.
5. If negotiated rates are lower than existing ComEd rates, the aggregator begins transitioning residents.
6. Finally, aggregator monitors supplier and utility performance, and renegotiates contract renewal.

Further information is available on the referendum page of the Kane County Clerk�s Office website.