City Selects Dynegy to Supply Participating Residents with 100 Percent Renewable Electricity
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - The Evanston City Council has approved a three-year contract
with Dynegy as part of the City’s community choice electricity aggregation
program, providing participating residents and small businesses with 100
percent renewable energy.
After a thorough bid process, the City secured an electricity supply price of 7.132 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the duration of the contract, August 2017 through July 2020. Evanston’s contract provides residents with 100 percent renewable energy by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), which ensure that green energy is produced and added to the electricity grid. RECs will come from facilities, such as wind farms, located in Illinois or a neighboring state, and are required to be generated within one year of the energy being used by the aggregated group.
“I’m proud that our City is offering community members the opportunity to
receive 100 percent renewable energy for the next three years,” said Mayor
Stephen Hagerty. “This program makes it easy for Evanston residents to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions at home while helping the City achieve its
climate action goals. Now more than ever, it’s important that cities like
Evanston step up to protect the planet.”
Earlier this month, Mayor Hagerty joined with the Mayors
National Climate Action Agenda (Climate Mayors) in committing to uphold the
greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments of the Paris climate accord, in
which the U.S. had pledged to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent relative to
2005 levels by 2025. The City's electricity aggregation program will help Evanston meet that commitment.
The City and Dynegy
will mail a letter to residents later this month detailing the new contract.
Residents who wish to continue in the City’s aggregation program do not have to
take any action and will be automatically switched to Dynegy. Residents
who do not wish to be enrolled in the program should opt out by Thursday, July
13 by completing and returning the mailing’s enclosed opt-out card, or by calling
Dynegy at 844-351-7691.
The City’s current contract with Homefield Energy expires on
July 31, 2017. Depending on their billing cycle, residents will notice a
change in the supply portion of their electric bill in August or September
reflecting Dynegy as their new supplier. ComEd will continue to be responsible
for delivering electricity to residents’ homes, and billing them for it.
Customers may choose to leave the City’s program at any time
without penalty and return to ComEd for supply, or may select another
electricity supplier. Residents who
choose a new electricity supplier are encouraged to closely review any contract
for early termination fees and the potential for rate increases.
ComEd’s estimated supply price through September 2017 is 6.892
cents per kWh, which includes the utility’s "electricity supply" and
"transmission services" charges. ComEd electricity supply customers
also pay a Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA), which changes monthly and
can be a charge or credit of up to 0.5 cents per kWh. Participants in
Evanston’s aggregation program do not pay a PEA. Community members may
visit pluginillinois.org/FixedRateBreakdownComEd.aspx
for more information and for updated price comparisons.
Residents are also reminded to be cautious of door-to-door
and phone solicitations from electricity suppliers claiming to represent the
City of Evanston or the City’s new electricity supplier. No party representing
the City’s electricity aggregation program will call customers to request their
account numbers or any other personal information. Residents who wish to report
aggressive or misleading solicitations should call the Evanston Police
Department’s non-emergency number at 847-866-5000.
For more information about Evanston's aggregation program, visit cityofevanston.org/cca or call/text 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 3-1-1 in Evanston.