Champaign city employees | City of Champaign
Champaign city employees | City of Champaign
The city engineer of Champaign, Dave Clark, gave an update to city council about the city’s electricity aggregation program at council's Dec. 6 meeting.
“So looking at the cumulative savings column on the right, you can see that through September of this year, there's been significant cumulative savings for our city MEA members,” Clark said. “In fact, MEA members have collectively across all members, saved approximately $5.626 million on their electricity cost than if Amarin was supplying their power.”
The council uploaded the livestream of its public meeting to the city’s website.
Clark gave an update on the Municipal Electric Aggregation program as the current term is finished in June of 2023 and discussions about criteria for the next term need to be had. The MEA program is a result of a 2010 Illinois state law that allows municipalities to determine residents' and small businesses' electricity use and then solicit bids for suppliers of that usage.
The perks of this program in Champaign include a cheaper price for energy and more stable pricing and billing for residents, which helps them be able to budget more responsibly. It also aids the city in purchasing and using energy that is made from renewable sources.
Because of increased energy prices all over the nation, and globe, the city will have higher prices for its next contract than its current one, however the city should be able to keep a consistent price for the whole contract, barring any changes in state law that impact the prices.
The city council will have to choose their reselection criteria for the new contract, and then they can look at and accept any bids that fall within those requirements. After they make a contract they will inform residents of the change. The proposed requirements included meeting or beating Ameren’s supply cost, having a fixed cost for at least one year, and to have an optional rate for 100% renewable energy source as well as a “regular” rate.
The council also discussed its bid of $108,225 for the 2023 Tree and Stump Removal Project from Homer Tree Care, Inc., to remove 81 trees and stumps.
The council will meet again for the last time in 2022 at 7 p.m. on Dec. 27 at 102 North Neil Street.
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