Peoria-area energy customers have just a few days left to choose whether to participate in the municipal aggregation program or opt out. Your decision will impact the bottom line of your power bill.
The deadline to opt out is either June 23 or June 26, depending on which letter you received in the mail.
The decision impacts the supply portion of a monthly power bill. Right now, Ameren is the supplier for everyone, but the city of Peoria and other area municipalities are contracting with alternative supplier Energy Harbor starting in July.
Aggregation isn't new. Voters passed a community aggregation referendum back in 2012 allowing area governments to negotiate with energy suppliers. Homefield Energy was the region's alternative supplier for many years, but the region reverted to Ameren Illinois last year due to high energy prices.
Energy Harbor's residential supply price is a locked-in rate of 9.95 cents per kilowatt-hour through the end of 2025. Ameren Illinois' current rate is 7.877 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Jim Chilsen, director of communications at the consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board, notes that municipal aggregation doesn't guarantee savings for customers. But he said that just because Energy Harbor's rate is currently about 26% higher than Ameren's doesn't mean it'll stay that way.
"If you decide to opt in to the Peoria aggregation offer, you're basically betting that in the future, this will turn into a better deal for electricity supply. But we don't have enough information right now to know if that will be a good bet or not," he said.
Ameren is set to adopt new rates in October. Scott Sorrel is the Peoria County administrator. He said opting out to stay with Ameren essentially makes the customer subject to market volatility.
"It all is a function of where the the electricity markets are, because electricity is traded like a commodity, like corn and soybeans or crude oil and natural gas. They're all commodities; they're all traded down. So it just depends on where the markets are," he said.
Power will still be delivered by Ameren regardless of the choice made on an energy supplier. That means power bills will continue to come from Ameren.
The village of Princeville and village of Dunlap aren't participating in the Energy Harbor community aggregation program. Unincorporated areas are covered by the county program.
Peoria County will collect a municipal electric fee from Energy Harbor. Sorrel said that money has mostly gone towards the county Sustainability and Resource Conservation Department, which promotes recycling and composting.
Community aggregation is open to residents and small businesses with usage less than 15,000 kilowatt-hours. Customers using solar panels or other net-metering arrangements are not automatically included in the aggregation program, but they might still have an option to join.
Customers who choose to opt out before the deadline on the letter can opt back in at any time without a penalty. Those who opt out after that 21-day period must wait a year before they're eligible to rejoin the aggregation program.
"What we tell people is no matter what, if you're uncomfortable with the deal, and you opt out, you know you can always opt back in," said Chilsen.
More information is available on CUB's website, or Peoria County's website. You can also call Energy Harbor at 1-877-793-8921.
