City suspending municipal electric aggregation program with SIMEC for 12 months

QUINCY — The City of Quincy is suspending its municipal electric aggregation program for 12 months when the current supply contract ends with electric meter readings in March.

Residential and small business (defined as those using fewer than 15,000 kilowatthours annually) participants in the city’s program will begin receiving their electric supply from Ameren in March. Ameren will notify each participant by letter of the transfer in supply service. 

City officials reported that competitive market price have surged in the past several months. Recent bids have exceeded 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. Ameren’s comparable annualized rate for typical homeowners is 5.399 cents per kilowatt-hour through June, when its rate will be adjusted.. The city’s current MEA rate of 5.09 cents per kilowatt-hour from Homefield Energy of Collinsville expires in March. At that time, electricity for Quincy MEA participants will be transferred from Homefield to Ameren.

“We had discussed the situation with the deputy mayor (Jeff Mays) and with Jeff Conte (director of engineering and utilities). We let them know a few months back that we didn’t figure we’re going to see prices low enough to recommend a contract to the city,” SIMEC president Reg Ankrom told aldermen Monday night. 

“Natural gas prices jumped to their highest just a few days ago. Electricity and energy prices generally track one another. The result has been we’ve seen prices too high to, in all good faith, recommend to the city a renewal or an extension or a new contract for its MEA program. It has the opportunity to take a hiatus. That’s what we recommend.”

Electric aggregation participants will not have to take any action. The transfer in supply will occur automatically in March when the participant’s meter is read.

Under Illinois public utilities rules, customers may choose another alternative electric supplier before May meter readings. The rules require those who do not choose another supplier to remain with Ameren for 10 more months.

Illinois began deregulating electricity for small non-commercial consumers in 2010. The law allows municipalities to pool, or aggregate, residential and small business uses of electricity to seek electricity prices on the open market lower than the regulated rates authorized for utilities.

Ameren since has sold its electric generating stations and now gets electricity it distributes to customers in Quincy from the Illinois Power Agency. Ameren operates today only as an electric distribution company.

Consumers can get information about the City’s electric aggregation program by calling Homefield energy at 866-694-1262 and Ameren at 800-255-5000.