By WMBD-TV
WOODFORD COUNTY – Voters in Woodford County will decided on Nov. 5 whether they’d like electrical aggregation in the future.
“Even if you voted for the referendum, you can opt out of the alternative supplier offer if it’s not right for you,” said Jim Chilsen, a spokeswoman for the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.
Aggregation is a pretty simple idea. Get a large buying pool and leverage that buying power to lock in a fixed rate for a set amount of time. The theory is that by buying and selling electricity as a commodity, those in the program could get a better rate for each kilowatt hour.
The question before voters on Election Day is just a referendum, so approval don’t mean the county will 100% go forward with electrical aggregation.
“In theory, municipal aggregation allows communities to use the collective bargaining power of their residents to negotiate for lower power prices from suppliers. There’s a big but… Municipal aggregation does not guarantee savings,” Chilsen said.
That means the county can negotiate a power deal with an alternative power supplier on behalf of its’ residents. Chilsen said that doesn’t always necessarily mean savings for the consumer, however.
“If the people of Woodford County vote to go forward with municipal aggregation, nobody should assume that that’s going to guarantee savings,” he said. “We’ve seen some counties and municipalities that have been able to secure good deals for consumers.
“We’ve also seen counties and municipalities that have secured bad deals for consumers,” he added.
Even if a voter checks ‘yes’ on the referendum, they can still opt out of the aggregation if the county ends up going forward with a deal. There are, however, some exceptions for a few residents.
“The exceptions are people already with an alternative supplier, people who have electric heat, and small businesses using more than 15,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity,” said Chilsen.
While this vote doesn’t set electrical aggregation in stone for Woodford County, Chilsen said this is a question residents should stay up to date on.
“It’s going to be important for customers to know exactly what Ameren’s supply price is going to be, in June of 2025. They can make an apples to apples comparison with whatever municipal aggregation offers presented,” said Chilsen.
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