By Stephen Nelson
The Bourbonnais Village Board voted to continue to offer residents an electric aggregation program for another year at their August 21 meeting.
Such cost reduction efforts were quite popular with many Kankakee County towns at the beginning of the deregulation of the utility industry several years ago. That time was marked by many companies luring customers with cut rate prices on electricity and natural gas.
Over time, those savings offered by Com Ed competitors have largely disappeared. Nonetheless, Bourbonnais continues to offer an alternate provider to its residents.
Mayor Paul Schore says the Com Ed competitor is offering a locked in rate of 6.95 cents per kilowatt hour for a period of one year. Currently, Com Ed’s rate is 6.8 cents per kwh. Not to worry, as Mayor Schore said any resident of Bourbonnais who does not want to participate in the village’s electricity aggregation program can opt-out at anytime. Com Ed’s per kilowatt hour rate is expected to rise next year, and Schore said that should make the aggregation rate look a bit more attractive.