Politics & Government

Huntley Voters Seek Answers to Electric Aggregation Questions

Village holds informational open house about the March 20 referendum question.

A handful of people stopped by on Thursday to get some answers about the March 20 .

The low turnout did not faze village staffers, who were at the informational open house to answer every question the six people attending had about the referendum question.

Voters will decided whether to authorize the village to bundle, or aggregate, residents’ and small business owners’ electric accounts and try to negotiate a better rate, according to officials.

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Village Manager Dave Johnson found residents had a general idea of the concept, but had many questions about how the program would work.

The most common question residents posed during the open house dealt with what options residents had if they did not want to be part of the program, Johnson said. Residents and businesses have the ability to opt out.

Find out what's happening in Huntleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Jennifer Chernak, director of finance and human resources, fielded questions that will not have answers until the referendum is passed — such as when would the program begin and what role ComEd would play in the program.

Residents want to know if ComEd still would be a supplier. Chernak said people have not made the distinction between supplier and distributor. ComEd would continue to be the distributor, but the supplier would be the company that offers the lowest rates, officials said.

More than 100 Illinois communities have adopted electric aggregation programs. Electric aggregation can save residents about 20 percent on their electric bills, Chernak said.

The Northern Illinois Governmental Electric Aggregation Consortium’s new website states there are more than 300 referendums on ballots across the state. The consortium was formed to facilitate electric aggregation and is made up of McHenry County, Huntley, Algonquin, McHenry, Genoa, Marengo, Woodstock, Johnsburg, Lake in the Hills, McCullom Lake, Ringwood, Lakewood and Spring Grove.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here