Norridge Village Board reached out recently to the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative to get lower electric rates for the village’s street lights.
Trustees voted unanimously on April 24 to authorize Village President Daniel Tannhauser and Village Administrator Joanna Skupien to enter into a contract for the purchase of such electricity from the lowest cost provider through the NIMEC bid process.
“It’s going to be whatever the lowest going rate is at the time,” said Trustee Andy Ronstadt, chairman of the board’s Water, Cell Phones, Cell Sites and Electrical Aggregation Committee.
Skupien said the contract rates will be bid in May through NIMEC and are available to any agency that is a member of the collaborative.
“It’s for street lights,” she said. We have multiple programs we go out to bid for. One is for the street lights. There is residential aggregation as well, but that’s not this time around. This is just for the street lights.”
Trustee Jack Bielak, chairman of the Law and Ordinance and Economic Development Committee, which presented the proposal to the board, said the rates bid for this contract are available only for municipal use in Norridge.
“We try to get the lowest rate possible for our residents, so that’s why we’re in the consortium,” Bielak said.
Bielak said he was not certain how much Norridge spends on electricity for street lights each year.
“I don’t know offhand, but that’s obviously why we’re going through this process – to get the best rate we can,” he said. “For us, we’re always trying to find the best deals possible for our residents. We want to make sure that we’re not having to spend more money than we have to.”
Adam Hoover, director of strategic accounts for NIMEC, said the agency will seek bids on behalf of Norridge and its 170 member organizations, including 130 government bodies.
“We work mostly with municipalities and government organizations. We put in a big group bid for whoever’s contract expires that year,” Hoover said. “The street light bids have more attractive rates. It allows some suppliers to bid more aggressively.”
The contracts will be effective in July and last for up to three years, he said.
Typically, NIMEC approaches five trustworthy suppliers and uses the best bid, Hoover said. Each participating member gets the opportunity to accept the bid about two months before its contract begins, he said.
“We don’t want to do it at the last minute,” Hoover said. “We want to give them time to transition.”
Nonetheless, Tannhauser and Skupien must accept the winning bid and sign a contract by May 21, if the village wants to capture the lowest rate, he said.
The winning bid will also include options for renewable energy, if Norridge is interested, Hoover said.
“They’re not required to sign anything,” he said. “They can return to ComEd if they want. Ninety-nine percent of our constituents go with our bid.”
The contracts must be signed immediately because bids from suppliers are only good for one day, Hoover said.
“If they sign on the 21st, the contract guarantees that rate,” he said.
Hoover and his father, David, launched NIMEC in 2007, Hoover said.
“We are the only collaborative who does this as a group bid for governments,” he said.
