The McHenry County Board has joined a growing listing of local governments to place an electrical aggregation referendum question on the upcoming March primary ballot.
The decision will now be left to unincorporated voters as to whether they want to give the County Board the authority to seek lower electricity rates for residents and small business owners.
Cary, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, McHenry and Woodstock, among others, have also agreed to place the question on the ballot in hopes of competitively seeking lower rates than ComEd, the major provider of electricity statewide.
The board approved placing the referendum on the ballot 20-3.
“I wanted to allow my constituents the opportunity to let their elected officials know whether or not this was something they want us to be involved with in lowering their rates,” said District 5 Rep. Tina Hill, R-McHenry. “I thought it was a no-brainer.”
District 3 Rep. Barb Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, agreed.
“The referendum idea I always like, especially during a primary,” she said. “If the situation turns out to be an excellent money-savings opportunity for unincorporated McHenry County, it’s very fair to ask the voters where they stand.”
District 6 Rep. Diane Evertsen, R-Harvard; District 2 Rep. Donna Kurtz, R-Crystal Lake; and District 6 Rep. Ersel Schuster, R-Woodstock, voted against the resolution.
Kurtz fears that if approved, empowering the board to seek lower rates would expand county government.
“That is a very slippery slope when a lot of problems we have today with government expenditures is that we have over-extended ourselves,” she said. “It’s important to be extremely conservative in how we provide services.”
The measure would allow to county to begin the process of developing requests for proposal documents with an electrical aggregation consultant in mid-March. If prices come back lower than current ComEd prices, the board would accept the lowest responsible bidder.
Unincorporated residents not wishing to participate in the program can opt out and stay with their current provider, and the county would not accept any bid that were higher than ComEd rates.
Typically, opt-out participants save between 23 to 33 percent, according to David Hoover of the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative.
Residents would continue to call ComEd during service disruptions, and the utility company would continue to send residents their monthly bills.
Residents in Harvard and Fox River Grove have already approved referendums.
