The village of Barrington is considering an alternate energy supplier in an effort to save residents and businesses money on their electricity bills.

The issue was discussed at the Committee of the Whole meeting held Nov. 7 and there are a few options on the table.

One option the village is considering is electrical aggregation. During this process, the village will seek out bids from a list of power suppliers to shop for a lower rate for electricity. Village officials believe aggregation would result in lower bills for everyone, but before that can happen, a referendum would need to be passed. This could appear on ballots as soon as March 2012, with the new rates going into effect in the fall of 2012. 

Another option up for consideration is joining a Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, where a group of suburban towns aggregate electricity at a reduced rate. Any Barrington customer is free to opt-in to this program at any time.

“What they are finding is that there is not a high percentage of people that are signing in to save money immediately which you can do. We can all do it right now with many companies,” Public Works Director Dennis Burmeister said.

Residents and businesses who’d like to sign up for the Metro Mayors plan now would pay 6.2 cents per kilowatts hour; a significant discount over the 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour Barrington customers currently pay to Commonwealth Edison.

A disadvantage of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is that customers would be locked in to that rate for two years, which could prevent them from participating in an electrical aggregation program set up by the village. ComEd is also expected to decrease its rates in 2013, which could provide an additional savings. 

“They (ComEd) are at the highest rates right now because they are required to buy some long term contracts and they were buying contracts when prices were high,” Burmeister explained.

The committee will now analyze which deal makes the most sense for Barrington residents and businesses before deciding to move forward with anything. However, Burmeister and several others recommended moving along with the referendum process for electrical aggregation.

“With the Metro Mayors deal, only the people who are aware will realize the savings. The benefit of the referendum is making it ‘opt-out’ so that everybody benefits unless you make a decision not to benefit,” Trustee Jim Daluga said.

ComEd will remain the distributor of electrical power regardless of the power supplier the village chooses. Customers will still receive their power bills from ComEd.

The next step in the process is for the Board of Trustees to pass a resolution to place the electrical aggregation question on the March 2012 ballot. If the resolution is passed, residents and businesses will have the option to opt-out if they don’t want to participate in the program.