Galesburg Aldermen on Monday approved a new 3-year energy aggregation agreement that will power customers getting a rate of about 5.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
For some perspective, the average electricity rate in the U.S. this month is 12.7 per kilowatt-hour according to chooseenergy.com
Alderman Larry Cox was the one council member to vote against the agreement.
His reasoning was that although 100 percent renewable energy is admirable, he thought it was worth it to go with the standard option that would have saved customers some money.
The option Cox favored would have been around 5 percent more than the current rate, and 5 percent below what was approved.
The agreement sees an increase of about 11 percent from the rates in the last one that expires in July.
Galesburg first began municipal energy aggregation after city residents approved the change at the ballot box in Nov. 2012.
Residents may hear from other energy suppliers trying to solicit enrollment in their company.
While residents can make their own choice, the City cautions that these companies are not the “supplier of choice” and many not be able to provide the same rates and assurances as Homefield.
Properties enrollment in Homefield is automatic so there’s no need for action on the part of residents.
Also, remember that Homefield Energy is the supplier, but Ameren Illinois remains the delivery company. All Galesburg users should continue to contact Ameren in the case of outages, service calls, and emergencies.
Only Ameren and ComEd service territories are pursuing energy aggregation at this time.
