With several key deadlines and important dates on the calendar, Naperville officials are beginning their deep dive into exploring the range of options on the table for the local electric utility’s energy procurement in the road ahead.
The big picture review, which will unfold in the months ahead, comes on the heels of a decision early this year to pause contract extension talks with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency beyond 2035 as other possibilities are explored.
Important milestones and key decision dates
Brian Groth, director of the Naperville Electric Utility, provided a presentation, “planning for the future,” at a Tuesday, April 7, city council meeting. It was the first in a series of reports coming down the pike in the months ahead and ultimately will flow into a more intensive workshop in the fall.
In the initial discussion, Groth set the groundwork for some of the key considerations the council will need to make, depending on an option chosen, working backwards from Naperville’s current contract end date with the IMEA on Sept. 30, 2034.
Four specific structural options were presented: joint action agency participation, market participation with asset ownership, market participation without asset ownership, and a sale of the electric utility.
Each of the options has different timetables if implemented, with participation in a joint action agency having the shortest window of time: June 2027.
“Formation of a new joint action agency or negotiation to participate in an existing joint action agency will take time and, therefore, it is the soonest decision that will have to be made,” Groth said.
Other possibilities, such as market participation without owning any assets, have less lead time and could be finalized as late as June 2029.
Each of the specific structural options available will be reviewed over the course of four separate reports — one per month — through the end of the summer. The reports for each option will delve into its feasibility in Naperville, key financial considerations, financial risks, example communities, and other related issues.
Speaking in favor of local control of the utility
In his kick-off presentation on the weighty topic, Groth gave his take on the benefits of having a locally run electric utility, from a customer-facing standpoint.
“I view reliability as something that the Naperville Electric Utility, and its nearly 100 employees, are responsible for on a daily basis,” Groth said. “This includes capital planning, project execution, and response to power outages.”
The dedicated Naperville-based employees, Groth added, have ultimately resulted in a local utility that is “about four times more reliable than our peers. If you do experience an outage, it is likely to be resolved in under 60 minutes.”
Groth also discussed two other core driving forces within the electric utility — sustainability and affordability — and indicated both have been a part of long-term planning and capital investments.
“Our goal is to always provide a high level of customer services, whether it is through our finance department, who handles our billing functions, or new developers, or homeowners who are looking to redesign their backyard,” Groth said.
Council weighs in with guidance as framework set
The recent discussion also helped set the framework for the next four reports, in terms of the specific information shared on each of the options.
Councilwoman Mary Gibson expressed a desire to have commitment timeframes spelled out as each of the options are presented in the months ahead.
“I’m really interested in each of these options and how long we are locked in to each option,” Gibson said. “Obviously, the IMEA renewal on the table was a long-term, but with each of these, do we get to re-evaluate every three years, every five years, every 10 years?”
As options are considered, Gibson said the time commitments could be beneficial in zeroing in on a decision.
“I think that’s a big factor, in terms of evaluating the risk of the different options, at least when I’m making a decision,” she added. “If that could be included, I think that would be helpful.”
Several other councilmembers, including Ian Holzhauer, also shared some of the specific information they are seeking in the forthcoming reports.
“Just to be clear, for me, speaking as one councilmember, I am much more focused on greenhouse gas emissions than I am on us being able to say, ‘Oh, we have a carbon-free resource,’” Holzhauer said. “I think what is going to affect our future generations the most is not how many solar fields we build, but it is going to be how much we emit in greenhouse gases.”
Mayor Scott Wehrli said he is hopeful the forthcoming reports will lead to fruitful dialogue on the dais.
“We’ve got 15 months left before we have to make our first strategic decision, and as we know, the clock will not stop, so I appreciate the council being active participants in these discussions,” Wehrli said. “I hope that we’ll have some really good conversations in the upcoming months.”
Groth’s next report, on the joint action agency participation option, is set for the council’s Tuesday, May 5, meeting.
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