Village of Orland Park Board Chooses Illinois Based Electrical Aggregation Company

Village of Orland Park Board Chooses Illinois Based Electrical Aggregation Company

Village Residents Could See More Than 40% Savings by Summer’s End

ORLAND PARK, IL – At its May 7^th meeting, the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees directed village staff and legal counsel to finalize a contract with Nordic Energy Services of Oakbrook Terrace as the community’s electricity supplier.

During the Tuesday, March 20^th Presidential Primary Election, Village of Orland Park voters approved the electrical aggregation referendum by more than 65%, giving the village permission to seek lower electricity supply rates for its residents and small businesses through an opt-out electricity aggregation program.

“Orland Park continues to play a leadership role in helping its residents and businesses conserve energy and save money,” said Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin. “We took the savings message to the public and our residents resoundingly approved electrical aggregation for the village,” the mayor added.

The village’s electrical aggregation consultant, David Hoover, founder and executive director of the Northern Illinois Municipal Electrical Collaborative (NIMEC), addressed the board on May 7^th, explaining what each of the six bidders had offered for Orland Park.

“Just this afternoon, we learned the new ComEd rate will increase as of June 1 from 7.73 to 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour,” Hoover said. The new rates will result in a savings of 43% on the supply portion of the bill,” Hoover noted.

Addressing McLaughlin and the village trustees, Hoover said, “This makes your decision to start this process six months ago even more advantageous for the community.”

Six companies submitted bids for the Village of Orland Park’s electrical service with three being designated finalists, Direct Energy, FirstEnergy and Nordic Energy Services.

FirstEnergy’s rate was 4.79 cents per kilowatt hour versus Nordic Energy’s being 4.82 cents per kilowatt hour. A majority of the Village Board voted that the advantage of using an Illinois-based company offset the three-hundredths of a cent per kwh difference, or about $5.00 per year per household.  The typical household savings will be over $300 per year.

“I’m happy that we’ll be partnering with an Illinois based company,” McLaughlin said. “We’re going to be able to save village residents more than 40% on the energy portion of their electric bills. The $300 per year will be put to good use by our residents,” the mayor said.

“Village residents, as a whole, should save about $9 million dollars through this program. That’s money that will remain in Orland Park,” Hoover noted.

Nordic’s two-year contract rate is 4.82 cents per kilowatt hour. The cost to procure 25% of the energy from renewable sources is nominal, adding 0.03 cents per kilowatt hour to the cost of energy.

A January 1, 2010 state law allowed municipalities to aggregate and transfer their residents’ and small commercial retail customers’ electric accounts to alternative electric suppliers. Electrical power would be produced by a company other than ComEd with ComEd continuing to supply electricity to residents over ComEd’s electricity grid. ComEd customers who are part of the group purchasing will continue to be billed by ComEd and will continue to contact ComEd with service needs.

Village residents will receive a letter from the village in late May that will include information about the village’s chosen supplier. Details on how to opt out of the program will also be included for those who choose not to participate. Residents will have two opportunities to opt out of the money saving program. And, those who have already signed on with other electric service companies will be able to opt into the village’s program with Nordic.

“We’re looking forward to residents starting to see the savings on the supply portion of their electric bills later this summer,” McLaughlin said. “Their bills will continue to come from ComEd and Nordic Energy Services will be listed as the supplier on the bill,” he said.

Nordic Energy Services, LLC is an independently owned, Oakbrook Terrace-based, Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES) and Alternative Gas Supplier (AGS) licensed by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and is also licensed in Indiana as an AGS. In addition to supplying energy and providing related services to commercial and residential customers behind six utilities in Illinois and Indiana, Nordic has also developed and is producing oil and natural gas reserves.

MARGIE OWENS-KLOTZ

Communications Manager

Village of Orland Park