Voters in 81 communities in Commonwealth Edison's service territory voted Tuesday to allow their local governments to shop for electricity on their behalf.
Vote totals are being tallied, but early results indicate that measures to allow so-called electricity aggregation passed in the vast majority of communities, including Chicago.
Illinois consumers have been allowed to shop for electricity for more than a decade, but the concept didn't take off until 2011, when legislators enacted a law allowing municipalities to negotiate for better rates on behalf of residents.
If your town voted yes to aggregation, here's what you need to know:
The switch to a new supplier won't happen right away.
Even with referendum passage, the process is just beginning. Communities need time to invite suppliers to bid, create a plan of governance, reach out to residents, choose a supplier and provide an opt-out period. Based on past deals, you can expect to be switched over to a new supplier sometime from January to March.
You will have an opportunity to opt out.
Check your mailbox in the coming months for instructions from your municipality about how to opt out of the program. If you opt out, you will remain with ComEd or you can shop for electricity on your own.
You can do nothing.
Unless you opt out, you will be automatically switched to the supplier your municipality chooses. Excluded are customers who have switched to suppliers of their own choosing or who are on an alternative pricing plan with ComEd. In general, those customers have not been included in aggregation deals.
You are a ComEd customer.
ComEd is responsible for delivering your electricity and keeping the lights on, regardless of who supplies your power. ComEd, a "wires only" utility, makes its money from delivering electricity, not from supplying it. Your new bill will look like your old bill, except that the portion titled "electricity supply services" will have a new rate and include the new supplier's name.
You are not alone.
Residents of 175 ComEd communities have switched suppliers and have cut their bills about in half through May 2013, paying an average of 4.83 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Customer beware, you may not save money.
Electricity pricing is constantly changing, and deals that look good now may not look great later. Several municipalities are locked into 12- and 24-month contracts with alternative suppliers that are higher than what consumers could find by shopping on their own, and they come with early termination fees. Some towns have not required suppliers to beat ComEd's prices if they drop below current rates. Some have customers automatically stay on with a supplier after a contract expires, even if rates increase.
Expect to be popular.
Electricity suppliers will hound you to pick them and opt out of aggregation. In the process, savvy consumers may be able to snag discounts on hotels and restaurants. But if you plan to shop, refer to the Illinois Commerce Commission (pluginillinois.org), Power2Switch (power2switch.com) and the Citizens Utility Board (citizensutilityboard.org).
Beware of scammers.
About 44 percent of people know nothing about electricity aggregation, according to a recent poll, which can make them ripe for victimization by scammers and identity thieves. You do not have to sign anything or provide personal information to be part of municipal aggregation.
SOURCES: City of Chicago, Power2Switch, Citizens Utility Board, Commonwealth Edison, Environmental Law & Policy Center
jwernau@tribune.com
Twitter @littlewern
What electricity aggregation means for your bill
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