With Voter OK, Oak Park Pursues Electricity Aggregation

Oak Parkers may have to do a bit of soul searching when it comes time to choose between cheaper electric bills or cleaner energy sources. 

On April 5, voters gave Oak Park officials the green light to start pursuing a bulk energy purchasing program known as Community Choice Aggregation. The programs allow a municipality to bundle power accounts from households and small business customers, then, with the help of a third-party consultant, seek bids from energy companies

Similar referenda passed in the three other suburban Cook Counties where the ballot questions appeared, including Lincolnwood and Glenwood. In Oak Brook, just four voters approved the question and zero opposed it.

In Oak Park, nearly 9,600 — 6,350 approved; 3,244 opposed the referendum question. 

Now, the next step for residents is to start thinking about their priorities: cheap energy, clean energy or a comfortable mix of both.

Those choices will be explored at an upcoming pair of public meetings, said K.C. Poulos, the village's sustainability manager spearheading the CCA program. 

Dates for the forums, which will be held at Oak Park Village Hall or the Oak Park Public Library, have not been set. Poulos said officials will use Oak Park's FYI newsletter, official website and other channels to promote the meetings. 

Once the community's priorities are established, the village will solicit bids from the dozens of state-certified energy companies who can most closely match Oak Park's vision for its power mix. 

Those wishing to exclude their electric accounts will have a way to opt out of the CCA plan. 

Because electricity rates are set to change in May, village officials are hoping to line up the public meetings later this spring, then set the CCA plan in place after that. 

"My hope is that we get this done in the fall or before," Poulos said.

Later this week, Patch will explore the companies — some established in Illinois, others new to the area — looking for business in Oak Park.