NOTE THE NEW MATERIAL WHICH NIMEC SUPPLIED TO BOONE COUNTY BOARD
Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative (NIMEC) currently provides electricity to Belvidere’s municipal buildings. It along with a related entity Rock River Energy Services (RRES) is asking to be the agent for Belvidere and unincorporated Boone County should these government units seek a referendum so citizens can be given a collective option to purchasing electricity.
Citizens should be aware that both NIMEC and RRES are “seller’s agents” that is their commission is paid by seller of the electricity which the governmental unit(s) choose. Thus their allegiance is to themselves and the seller. On the more positive side NIMEC has a track record with the City of Belvidere and with several cities in McHenry County which now use a NIMEC contract for community electricity.
As a refresher of the “new electrical system” in Northern Illinois: EXELON (Com Ed’s parent company) produces the electricity, it is “sold” to various middlemen who in turn sell it to the individual consumers, and finally Com Ed provides the wire and transmission service for a delivery fee. A consumer pays a unified bill to Com Ed which allots part of the bill to Com Ed for transmission/delivery and part to the middleman-electricity seller you have chosen. Most private consumers are still buying their electricity from Com Ed acting as a middleman-seller however a few private consumers have opted out to a different middleman-seller. And in the case of large/middle sized industrial accounts, 75-80% of them are now using non-Com Ed middlemen.
Under state legislation from 2010, municipalities and counties (for the unincorporated residents) can seek cooperative types rates for their communities. First the government unit must place the request for this authority on a referendum ballot for citizenry to decide. If it passes, then the government unit can determine (usually by bid) which middleman-seller will provide electricity to the community.* All residents then would be given notice that their electricity would be provided by the selected middleman-seller and that would be their choice unless the individual consumer opted out. A consumer could opt out to either Com-Ed or to several other middlemen-sellers who deal directly with the consumer.
* Currently Com-Ed cannot be the middleman-seller which a community chooses.
Below is some literature available on the NIMEC website providing further explanations: [http://nimec.net/]
Municipal aggregation is an opportunity for a municipality to reduce its residents’ Commonwealth Edison bills. Municipal aggregation allows local governments to bundle – or aggregate – residential and small commercial retail electric accounts and seek bids for a lower cost source of power, similar to how municipalities negotiate contracts for waste disposal or cable television.
All eligible residents and small businesses are automatically enrolled. Those who don’t want to participate can “opt-out” of the program. This aggregation program can only be implemented when the voters approve the ballot issue in a primary or general election. The next available election will be held in March of 2012.
After a ballot issue is approved, NIMEC will solicit bids for the Village’s aggregated load. Up to 20 municipalities in Illinois have started to purchase power at rates significantly lower than ComEd’s. Whether the municipality moves the residents’ load or not, residents would continue to call ComEd in the event of a service disruption. And ComEd would continue to send the residents their monthly bills.
Mission Statement
NIMEC was founded in 2006, to address the deregulation of electricity in Illinois. Deregulation allowed commercial users to purchase power from sources other than Commonwealth Edison. NIMEC is committed to helping its members purchase power from suppliers at rates lower than ComEd’s.
NIMEC has a membership of 100+ municipalities in northern Illinois. NIMEC aggregates its memberships’ electric usage and bids it out collectively. NIMEC’s strategy is to band together to drive down pricing. When the memberships’ load is aggregated, usage approaches $20 million annually. NIMEC's suppliers bid more aggressively for the collective load than if the municipalities approached the suppliers individually for pricing.
NIMEC provides this service at no charge to its membership. NIMEC receives an origination fee from its suppliers for aggregating the load and presenting it to the suppliers for bid
Click on the photocopy to enlarge:
Here is something about the process.
About Us
David Hoover is NIMEC’s Executive Director. David has an undergraduate degree in Business from University of Colorado (cum laude graduation). He also has attained an MBA from Arizona State University. Beginning in 1980, David was employed with large, multinational banks in Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase and Standard Chartered Bank) in the area of Corporate Lending. As Senior Vice President and Branch Manager from 1990-1992, David oversaw a staff of 30.
In 1992, David Hoover started the Glenview Consulting Group. From 1992 to 2007, Glenview provided utility consulting services to corporate and municipal clients. Glenview Consulting assisted over 200 clients, achieving recurring savings of $1,000,000 per year for its clients.
In 2006, NIMEC was created to help its membership buy power more effectively in the Illinois marketplace.
Here is the available information regarding Rock River Energy Services [http://rockriverenergyservices.com/]
THE FOLLOWING WAS SUPPLIED TO BOONE COUNTY BOARD MEMBERS BY NIMEC
Click on the photocopy to enlarge:
Stone School will be 150 years old in 2012 and while the restoration won’t be finished, the committee is hoping to an ice cream social next summer to show how much progress has been made.
