The Oak Park board will be asking voters for the opportunity to seek electricity on the open market, which officials believe will lower prices and possibly bring in more green energy.

The plan, known as Community Choice Aggregation, would allow the village to seek bids for residents and commercial retail business owners from independent power sources, instead of continuing to rely on set rates from ComEd. Village sustainability manager K.C. Poulos believes this will yield cheaper, and possibly cleaner, electricity on the open market.

“This is one of those rare opportunities where a referendum can offer an economic benefit without incurring substantial financial costs,” said Poulos, who added 34 percent of Oak Park energy comes from coal burning, while only 3 percent comes from renewable sources, like wind and solar. She said she expects a 5 to 10 percent savings for consumers

The plan is allowed by a state law revised in 2009. The proposal would need to be approved in a binding referendum in the spring.

If passed, the village would go out to bid for electricity, the same way they would seek the cheapest rates for a construction project. All residents would automatically be enrolled to get electricity from the new source, but anyone could opt out at any time and keep the current ComEd rate structure.

If the village cannot find cheaper or greener electricity, it could opt to keep the current system and everything would remain status quo, with no noticeable change for the consumer.

“If no bids are acceptable, there is no obligation to accept them,” Poulos said.

Two public hearings are required before the village can begin going out for bids.

The village would not be the “energy company,” so to speak, which has been done in other municipalities like Naperville. ComEd, which delivers the power and manages the infrastructure, would continue to manage the system and take care of billing, but the plan could disconnect the village from ComEd’s parent company Exelon, which is the electricity supplier.

Such opt-out plans have been available in Ohio for 10 years, said Brenda Fargo of Akron-based First Energy Solutions, an energy provider. She said 151 communities went to the ballot to approve such a plan, with 144 passing.

“These typically pass without a lot of hoopla,” she said.

Trustee Colette Lueck said residents might remember when phone companies were deregulated and rates went up, but Fargo said that is not what happened in Ohio.

“That’s not been the case, that’s not been the experience we have had in Ohio,” she said. “In fact, rates have gone down.”

While the main purpose is to save money, Poulos said, the village would also pursue alternative or renewable energy sources if economically feasible.

Officials said the plan is low-risk, as they can go back to Exelon energy if they feel it is not working out. Poulos said the biggest risk is if they sign a contract for an independent source, only to see Exelon prices drop mid-way through the deal. She said this could be mostly avoided by only signing one-year contracts.

Poulos said the savings would not be offset by increases from ComEd’s distribution, as they are prevented from doing so by the state.

“Many people don’t realize the distribution is one side of the business, and ComEd is guaranteed a certain amount no matter where the electricity comes from,” said Village Manage Tom Barwin. ComEd gets one-and-a-half to two cents per kilowatt-hour for distributing the electricity.

The plan received strong support from the board, which needed to approve the measure quickly to get it on the April ballot. It passed on a 5-1 vote, with the only nay coming from Trustee John Hedges. He said he supports the plan in theory, but believes the time frame is too tight and feels the village may be rushing the issue forward.

Village President David Pope disagreed, and said they could get the best rates if they are one of the first communities in Illinois to do so. With village constantly pushing green initiatives, he said it also sends the right message to Oak Parkers and other Illinois residents.

“If ComEd comes in with lowest price, then nobody has lost anything, but if they don’t, we’ve achieved gains for the community,” he said.