As Naperville city leaders weigh whether to renew a contract with their electricity supplier, they now have a new piece of information to consider — a recommendation from the Public Utilities Advisory Board.
The board issued a 4-3 vote in favor of renewing the contract with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency for a term that runs between 2035 — when the current contract expires — and 2055.
Panel reviews electric regulations, supply considerations
The nonprofit electric supplier, known as IMEA, has provided power to Naperville since 2011 and has set a deadline of April 30 for all of its 32 member municipalities to accept or turn down the contract renewal. Officials said 26 member communities have renewed the contract so far.
The Public Utilities Advisory Board’s vote came Tuesday after discussions lasting more than four-and-a-half hours. The topic brings out a variety of opinions from residents, including sustainability advocates, in part because a portion of the electricity IMEA provides is generated by power plants that burn coal in southern Illinois and Kentucky.
During Tuesday’s meeting — the third the advisory board has hosted in recent months to discuss the potential IMEA renewal — energy industry experts shared a historical perspective on electricity regulations and market uncertainties. Members of the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force, or NEST, explained their opposition to the contract renewal and asked the city to conduct a thorough review exploring other options.
Then, Public Utilities Advisory Board members shared thoughts based on their career expertise about whether continuing to receive power supply from IMEA would be a sound financial decision.
The recommendation the panel issued encourages the city council to say yes to the 20-year extension with IMEA and also to use a provision within the contract to “immediately” pursue “the highest load factor zero-emission resources available.”
Electricity contract costs, other price options uncertain
IMEA officials presented to the Public Utilities Advisory Board in late February, saying they have a plan to “target reductions in greenhouse gases,” but they need time — and buy-in from member communities — to achieve increases in renewable power generation.
Brian Groth, the city’s Electric Utility director, said the proposed contract with IMEA “does not address costs,” but IMEA officials have said the cost of generating energy at its two main power plants is between roughly $30 and $35 a megawatt hour.
Public Utilities Advisory Board members James Fillar and Russell Paluch said their experience indicates a cost in that range is below any price the city could get from other suppliers. Fillar is an engineer who spent 44 years in the energy industry, and Paluch works in commodity price management. Both voted to recommend renewing the contract with IMEA.
But Michelle Ackmann, whose career has focused on sustainability and energy efficiency, most recently for ComEd, said she can’t support making the assumption that IMEA’s price would be lowest without seeking other cost proposals. She voted against the IMEA contract renewal and asked Groth to see if IMEA would extend its April 30 deadline by 6 months to a year to allow time for a competitive bidding process.
Sustainability task force opposes ‘immense costs’ of pollution
Several members of NEST also asked the city to seek proposals from alternate electricity suppliers. Catherine Clarkin, an environmental chemist and one of NEST’s co-leaders, said reviewing options outside of IMEA’s proposal for electric supply is the best way to provide what her organization believes residents want: “a responsible transition to clean energy.”
Paul Bloom, a NEST member and professor of physics at North Central College, said there are health hazards and environmental risks with continuing to use electricity that comes from coal.
“The use of fossil fuels, and especially coal, comes with immense costs associated with pollution, climate change and their follow-on impacts,” Bloom said.
Next step: city council consideration
Utilities advisory board members debated pricing and environmental effects, as well as the challenges of purchasing energy decades into the future, before making their narrow recommendation in favor of extending the IMEA contract.
The issue now will head to the city council for consideration.
The council’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 15. The IMEA contract was not included on the agenda when the city first posted it. Other upcoming city council meetings include an inauguration ceremony for newly elected or re-elected members on Sunday, May 4 and a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 6.
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