From the City of Bloomington website:
Please take notice the City of Bloomington Mayor and City Council will hold two public hearings on Thursday, May 9, 2013; one at 12:30 p.m. and another at 6:45 p.m. Prevailing time at 109 E. Olive Street, Second Floor City Council Chambers, Bloomington, Illinois, for the purpose of receiving public input on a proposed plan of operation and governance developed for the City’s owns Municipal Electricity Aggregation Program. Interested persons are invited to attend and offer testimony.
The proposed plan is on file in the office of the City Clerk and from the following link.
2013 GECSI Plan Operation and Governance
A brief summary of the plan follows:
In compliance with Illinois Statute 20 ILCS 3855/1-92 of the Illinois Power Agency Act (“Act”) regarding aggregation of electrical loads by municipalities, the City of Bloomington l (“Bloomingtonl”) has developed A Plan of Operation and Governance (“Plan”) explaining the process and procedures of its Municipal Electricity Aggregation Program (“Program”). According to the Act, Bloomington will serve as governmental aggregator authorized to collect all residential and small business electricity load within Bloomington’s municipal boundaries and seek bids from Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES).
This Plan has been prepared by Bloomington officials in cooperation with Good Energy, L.P., the “Consultant”, to provide an understanding of structure, governance, operations, management, and policies of the Program to be utilized for residents and small businesses participating in the Program. The purpose in developing the Plan is to describe the uniform approach to the Program undertaken by municipal officials and Pursuant to 20 ILCS 3855/1-92. The load aggregation plan shall:
– Provide for universal access to all applicable residential customers and equitable treatment of applicable residential customers.
– Describe demand management and energy efficiency services to be provided to each class of customers.
– Meet any requirements established by law concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to statute 20 ILCS 3855/1-92.
The Program is designed to reduce the amount Bloomington residents and small businesses pay for electricity, and to gain favorable economic and non-economic terms in power supply contracts with ARES. Bloomington shall seek fixed electricity prices for each eligible class of customers that may be lower than the comparable price available from the local distribution company, in this case Ameren (“Ameren”). Individual residential and small business retail consumers are unable to obtain significant price discounts since they lack the bargaining power, expertise and the economies of scale enjoyed by larger industrial consumers. The Program will band together numerous electric accounts, providing the benefits of competitive energy markets that work to benefit the smaller consumer.
Bloomington does not own electric generation assets and will not purchase and resell electricity, but represents consumer interests as a governmental aggregator (“GA”) to set the terms for electricity supply and service from competing ARES licensed with the State. Through a competitive bid process operated and managed by Consultant, Bloomington will enter into a contract with an ARES for full-requirements retail electricity supply service. The contract is expected to be for a fixed price for a specified term. Bloomington may contract with one or more ARES if necessary to meet the needs of participating residents and small businesses.
The Plan as proposed is an Opt-Out program that will automatically include all eligible electric accounts in order to secure electricity for such customers from an alternate retail electric supplier at a lower electric rate than the prevailing Ameren IP rate. All such residential and small commercial retail customers will be given prior notice and an opportunity to allow them to affirmatively elect to not be part of the Bloomington Program ( i.e. “to opt-out”).
It is presently anticipated that the President and Board of Trustees will adopt the Plan of Operation and Governance for the City of Bloomington in its final form at the Regular Meeting of the Mayor and City Council scheduled for Monday, May 13, 2013, at 7 p.m. prevailing time at 109 E. Olive Street, Second Floor City Council Chambers, Bloomington, IL . The plan may be modified, amended, or revised before, during or after said Public Hearings and before its final approval by the Mayor and City Council.
Individuals with disabilities who plan to attend the hearing and who require certain accommodations in order to allow them to observe and participate, or who have questions regarding the accessibility of the meeting or facilities, are requested to contact the ADA Coordinator at (309) 829-5115.
Individuals with limited English proficiency who need assistance communicating are requested to contact the City Clerk at (309) 434-2240.
Tracey Covert
City Clerk
Publication: May 2, 2012 and
May 9, 2012;
The Pantagraph.
