The Village Board’s Public Works and Engineering Committee endorsed a proposed program that would enable local businesses and residents to collectively negotiate with electricity retailers after Village Manager Paul Grimes predicted savings of $175 to $200 per household.

If approved by the full village board and Mayor Dan McLaughlin, the issue would be placed before Orland Park residents in a referendum.

Grimes told the committee Nov. 21 that residents in 21 of 24 Chicagoland municipalities voted in April to establish an electrical aggregation program and have already seen savings of 15-20 percent on their electric bills.

Grimes said New Lenox, the nearest community to enact the program, trimmed 25 percent from local electric rates, but acknowledged it probably benefited from targeting some “low-hanging fruit” in high-cost areas. New Lenox’s population of 25,000, a little less than half that of Orland Park, probably also worked to its advantage, he said.

The Illinois General Assembly authorized bundling electricity purchases in 2010 as a means for local communities to negotiate rates with the two-dozen companies that retail electricity, using ComEd’s electrical grid. Customers purchasing through the aggregate approach continue to be billed by ComEd and continue to contact ComEd about service disruptions, Grimes reported.

A local electrical aggregation program can be designed to include only the eligible businesses and residents that have opted in, or to automatically enroll all eligible participants and then allow those not interested to opt out.

If and when local voters approve the measure, Grimes said village staff would talk to representatives from Tinley Park and other southwest suburban communities about forming a larger bargaining group to get the highest savings from “economies of scale.”