Nearly 10% of Joliet Residents Canceled ComEd

Between 6,000 and 7,500 home and small business owners in Joliet dropped ComEd as their electricity provider through the city-orchestrated electric aggregation program, officials said.

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That's between 8 percent and 10 percent of the 75,000 residences and businesses eligible to take advantage of the group purchase of electricity in a deal negotiated by the Will County Governmental League.

Most Joliet residents have seen a 25 percent to 30 percent drop in their electric bill, depending on their usage, since the program went into effect in February, governmental league Executive Director Steve Quigley said. Electricity is being purchased from FirstEnergy Solutions.

"They're basically getting a couple of months of free electricity," Quigley said.

Still, that so many made the switch via a voluntary program that required users to sign up was impressive to Quigley, who said he anticipated the number would be lower.

But City Manager Tom Thanas said he thought the number would be greater given the size of the anticipated savings.

"I'm still disappointed that Joliet residents didn't take advantage of the opportunity to save (an average of) about $250 a year," Thanas said.

Had city voters approved a 2012 election referendum automatically making the change to the governmental league's negotiated deal, they would have started seeing smaller electric bills almost a year ago. The signup for the voluntary plan did not become available until January.

ComEd customers, however, should see their bills drop once the utility is allowed to go back in the market and purchase electricity at a lower rate this year, Thanas said. However, those who signed up for the electric aggregation program will still save 10 percent to 15 percent over ComEd customers, he said.

No decision has been made on whether there will be a second attempt at getting an electric aggregation referendum on the next election ballot in spring 2014, he said.

There's less incentive to do so because the savings will not be as dramatic, he said.

Plus, Thanas said, he's not optimistic it would pass given the apathetic nature of voters in which only 17 percent of those eligible to cast ballots in the last election actually did so, not to mention the general mistrust some have for government.

The contract for those who did make the switch is effect until October 2014, when the governmental league will negotiate new rates on behalf of them and the dozen-plus towns in which residents did approve an electric aggregation referendum.