Monday, November 7, 2011
Residents, business owners can expect letters explaining how energy program will work.
By now, you've probably heard that Oak Park has found new ways to have greener energy supplied to most residents and commercial space throughout the village. But maybe you're just getting up to speed. Or maybe you've just received the village's mailer and are scratching your head about what exactly it is you need to do. We're here to help. First, a brief intro: The program is called Community Choice Aggregation, and it's staked on the notion that the village will act on behalf of its people by bundling lots of electric accounts and seeking bids for electricity on the open market. After months of discussion and debate — before and after and a successful referendum in April — the village hired a consultant to look for a supplier, and just …
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Feedback encouraged as village seeks cheaper, or cleaner, power sources.
The first of two public hearings was conducted Monday night as the village continues to assess how to find a cheaper, and possibly, cleaner, power source as part of the community choice aggregation plan. After a brief presentation of the plan, called CCA, by K.C. Poulos, Oak Park's sustainability manager, some in the audience were left with skepticism of the program. Oak Parker Gary Barnes, wondered about the validity of the program. But others, like Jim Dickert, backed the totally green approach. Another public hearing will be conducted at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 1 at Oak Park Village hall, 123 Madison St. Comments also can be made online. The hearings are part of the requirements the community must meet in signing on to the process of …
Monday, April 11, 2011
Referendum victory paves way for energy purchasing program.
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 voters cast a ballot — 6,350 …
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Energy purchasing plan to appear on April 5 ballot.
Voters in Oak Park will get the chance on April 5 to support or shoot down a new program that offers the promise of savings on electricity bills. The plan is known as Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA. The programs allow a municipality to bundle power accounts from households and commercial customers, then, with the help of a third-party consultant, seek bids from energy companies. The idea is for Oak Park to select an energy provider that can offer the cheapest rates, the cleanest forms of energy, or a mix of both. Right now, ComEd customers receive power from Exelon at prices set each year by the Illinois Power Agency, which buys electricity on the market on behalf of utility customers. In Illinois, the majority of electricity, 58…
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Oak Park officials give green light to new energy purchasing program.
The Oak Park Village Board has approved a measure that paves the way for a new way to purchase energy in bulk, potentially saving customers a bundle on their power bills. A plan known as Community Choice Aggregation will be included as a binding referendum question on the April 5 consolidated election ballots. The measure to place the referendum question on the ballot was passed by a 4-1 vote at Monday's village board meeting, with Trustee John Hedges opposed. Trustee Jan Pate was absent. Community Choice Aggregation, or CCA, programs allow a municipality to bundle power accounts from households and commercial customers, then, with the help of a third-party consultant, dangle that account in front of energy companies looking to bid on…
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Smart grids, solar energy, "perfect" power all discussed at special session.
The future of Oak Park's energy use lit up the agenda of Monday's special meeting, with representatives from consumer groups, the private sector, ComEd and Oak Park's Village Board all hashing out ideas for a smarter future. Village President David Pope said the meeting presented "lots of options and an interest on the part of the board to explore all of these opportunities." Here's a look at was discussed: Sustainability Vision Plan: The Oak Park River Forest Foundation is funding the creation of a Sustainability Vision Plan, an effort which aims to hammer out a long-term plan for environmental and financial sustainability. To make it happen, the foundation has already partnered with the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology …
41.887376
-87.792661
Avenue Parking Garage Village of Oak Park
101 N Euclid Ave, Oak Park, IL
/articles/energy-issues-light-up-oak-park-meeting
244956
/locations/1926936
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
K.C. Poulos guides conservation and sustainability goals in Oak Park.
From atop the Avenue parking garage, K.C. Poulos takes in a panoramic view of Oak Park and sees lots of opportunities for solar panels. "That phrase -- think globally, act locally. That's borne out on the municipal level," she said. Poulos is chatting with Village Manager Tom Barwin and a representative from the lllinois Science and Technology Coalition while the trio waits on the parking garage's deck for the arrival of a small delegation of Korean businessmen from the energy industry. The group is in town on a follow-up visit after their late July trip to Oak Park, ostensibly to revisit Oak Park's energy efficiency policies. It's really hot and the Korean officials are very late, but Poulos doesn't seem to sweat it. Since being named the…
Root Riot provides more than just green thumbs to the Oak Park community.
Editor's note: This week marks National Community Garden Awareness Week, so we're highlighting one of the local success stories. When Seamus Ford and Amy Beltemacchi formed the Root Riot Urban Garden Network in March, they had a modest goal. "We wanted to create a community garden," said Ford, a former Oak Park resident who lives on Chicago's West Side. Ford and Beltemacchi met at the Green Tuesdays in the Village lecture series, which covered a wide variety of issued on self-sufficiency. "They organized in March and planted in May. They're harvesting right now," said K.C. Poulos, Oak Park's sustainability manager. "It was an amazing thing to watch." Root Riot describes itself as "an open organization dedicated to creating opportunities …
41.87996
-87.78078
Park District of Oak Park
218 Madison St, Oak Park, IL
/articles/urban-gardening-group-blossoms
246061
/locations/1728678
Oak Park's sustainability manager sits down with Patch and explains why she wants to make the village leaner and greener.
We caught up with Oak Park's sustainability manager K.C. Poulos for a quick chat. Here are the contents of that interview. Sustainability is a word that's tossed around often. What exactly does it mean to you? For me, it's a big picture concept in an urban setting. We want to create and maintain a village that is valuable on a number of levels: economic, education and our built environment. On the environmental side, it means becoming more efficient in how we use our resources. We're not sustainably ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but we are making strides. Who else in town is doing good things? Sally Stoval at the Interfaith Green Network. [Churches] are starting car-free Sunday, where they're encouraging the congregations to …
Casey Cora
6:07 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
Hi Mel. I haven't heard of any similar plans with gas companies. more ›