City of Lake Forest, IL

At this time, the City in conjunction with the North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium (NSEAC) has idled its electricity aggregation program due to electricity commodity pricing not being at favorable levels compared to ComEd’s supply rate. All aggregation eligible Lake Forest electricity accounts are currently supplied by ComEd unless a third party supplier has been contracted by individual account holders. The NSEAC continually monitors electricity commodity pricing in the event rates become favorable. Should electricity supply rates become favorable comparative to ComEd, the City will look into pursuing an agreement for an electricity aggregation program and residents would be notified. Residents who wish to enter into an individual contract with a third party electric supplier may do so. Residents with third party suppliers will not be automatically enrolled in the City’s program should the City enter into a future aggregation contract but can opt in as desired. The Illinois Commerce Commission has created www.pluginillinois.org as the State’s official electric choice website to assist residents in comparing utility supply prices and offers from retail electric suppliers.

Background on the North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium (NSEAC)

Illinois law allows a municipality to seek bids for the provision of aggregate electricity supply services to residential and small commercial customers, in hopes that the selected rate will be lower than the standard rate offered by ComEd. As required by State law, on March 20, 2012 voters in all eight NSEAC municipalities approved referendums authorizing each municipality to operate an "opt-out" electricity aggregation program for residents and small businesses. In an effort to maximize the amount of savings for customers, the communities of Deerfield, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Park Ridge and Skokie worked together through an Intergovernmental Agreement and created the NSEAC.

MC Squared was selected as the consortium’s first service provider in April 2012 following a request for proposals for electricity aggregation services.  During an active aggregation contract, NSEAC communities review electricity rates annually to ensure that customers are receiving the best possible electricity rate. Given the overwhelming success of the initial three-year contract, in November 2014, the Consortium sought bids for a second program effort that began after the expiration of the contract with MC Squared on May 31, 2015. Constellation Energy offered the lowest vendor margin bid, allowed the Consortium communities to only lock an electricity supply rate if deemed favorable, and offered a natural gas option similar to electricity aggregation. The contract with Constellation Energy was a two-year term running through May 31, 2017. Due to commodities market conditions, the City was not able to secure a lower supply rate with Constellation Energy compared to ComEd’s supply rate, thus all aggregation eligible Lake Forest electricity accounts were kept with ComEd’s electricity supply.

For More Information

Consumers interested in exploring electricity supply alternatives can learn more through the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) at www.citizensutilityboard.org / 800-669-5556 and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) at www.pluginillinois.org / 217-785-7456.