Pingree Grove to save with new electricity supplier

Residents of Pingree Grove should expect a 42-percent decrease in electricity rates now that the village has signed a contract with FirstEnergy Solutions to provide it starting in August.

Voters in March gave the village the go-ahead to negotiate with electricity suppliers to find a cheaper alternative to ComEd.

In the wholesale purchasing arrangement, the new rate will be 4.93 cents per kilowatt hour for the next two years. ComEd will increase its rates from 6.9 to 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour on Friday, Village Administrator Kenneth J. Lopez said.

Residents will still get a bill from ComEd, and ComEd will continue to make money on the delivery of the electricity, but the bill will list FirstEnergy as the supplier.

The delivery and tax rates will not change, but because the actual usage rate will drop 42 percent the overall bill will be about 30 percent lower than previous ones. “We’re very pleased with the results,” Lopez said. Projected savings are estimated to be $320 a year for a single family home.

Residents have the option to opt out of the FirstEnergy contract by returning the forms sent through the mail. If you don’t do that, you automatically join the rest of the village. The exception is homes on ComEd’s Residential Real-Time Pricing program or those who already are using an alternative source.

The village board encourages residents who have another supplier to talk to that company and, if possible, switch to the village’s aggregation program for no additional fee. Lopez said he hopes the community will see considerable savings in the next few months.

The village will receive a portion of the savings in a civic contribution payment from FirstEnergy. An amount of one-tenth of one penny per kilowatt hour for the whole year will be donated. Estimating from last year’s energy use, the village will get $12,000.

FirstEnergy Solutions provided the lowest bid to Pingree Grove. The company also said if ComEd’s rates drop lower than theirs, they will match the price. FirstEnergy is certified by the Illinois Commerce Commission as an alternative electric supplier in Illinois.