Politics & Government
Mayor Calls ComEd's City Service Lousy, Voters Could Vote for New Provider
Crystal Lake could save money by dropping ComEd and going with another provider, consultant tells city council members.
Mayor Aaron Shepley called electric service the gets from ComEd “lousy” and disparaged the trimming the utility's work crews do around power lines.
He said the trees all look like “question marks and slingshots.”
Still, he was hesitant at Tuesday night’s city council meeting about whether to put on the March ballot a question to voters, asking them if the city should shop for a cheaper power service, which could mean dropping ComEd.
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David A. Hoover, executive director of Prospect Heights-based consultant NIMEC, told members of the city council that 5 percent of the people in Illinois have left . Savings for each of those homeowners are about $175 to $200 a year.
Hoover said if the city decides to put the question on the ballot next spring and it is approved by voters, Crystal Lake would go out to bid to find a cheaper provider of electricity.
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Crystal Lake, with a population of about 41,000, was big enough to have the leverage that would drive down prices.
And even if the city chooses to go to another provider, homeowners could still go with ComEd or another power company of their choosing.
“You compare bids, pick which rate you want and award business to a supplier,” Hoover told city council members, adding that it would be akin to going out to bid for a waste hauler.
Shepley said he was worried about “unintended consequences.”
“We don’t want short-term gain and then take it in the ear down the road,” Shepley said. “… They’ll give you a great deal now. Once [the new power company] consolidates their power and control. They’ll stick it to us.”
Councilman Ralph Dawson also said he had reservations.
"I was raised on Illinois Bell and AT&T," he said. “I’ve got to go out and explain this to people."
The city council will discuss the proposal again at its Nov. 15 meeting. They have to make a decision by the end of the year if the question is to appear on the spring ballot.
In other city council business, members approved without discussion adding new matching-grant programs designed to lure more business to town and a measure that would require downtown shopkeepers to shovel the sidewalks in front of their businesses or face fines.
