What is Naperville’s long-range vision for energy procurement, and what are some of the target benchmarks? When does a decision on the city’s energy provider have to be made? What are all of the options on the table?
These were questions the Naperville City Council wrangled over at its Tuesday, March 3, meeting. Next steps in the energy exploration discussion are being contemplated after last month’s 6-3 vote in support of pausing contract extension negotiations with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency.
A call for a big-picture vision on Naperville’s energy future
While energy procurement was not on the city council’s business agenda at the recent meeting, the weighty topic surfaced in several areas, including public forum and during new business.
Naperville resident Richard Stark spoke to the council during public forum and suggested the elected body host a series of workshops to help identify new terms and future options for energy procurement that best serve the city’s needs.
“I’ve closely followed the electricity contract discussions from the past 15 months,” Stark said. “Throughout that process, I observed that no electricity vision, decision criteria, targets, or benchmarks were used to evaluate proposed options. These elements are essential components of any well-formed strategy.”
From a process standpoint, Councilman Ian Holzhauer received majority support on the dais to have at least one strategic workshop later this year that is intended to lay out specific goals for Naperville’s energy future.
Several officials, including Councilman Benny White, spoke favorably of taking a broad look at the different factors in play for energy procurement, independent of the IMEA’s current sunset deadline in 2035.
“We’ve got the pulse of the community; that’s why we’ve all been elected to be up here,” White said. “If it’s affordability, then let’s prioritize that. If it’s carbon emissions, let’s prioritize that. We need to have that discussion before we start looking at the options.”
Timeline also discussed, with 9 years remaining on IMEA contract
Mayor Scott Wehrli began the renewed discussion of delving into Naperville’s energy procurement future. Last month’s pause, he said, does not put an end to the realities of rapidly shifting markets and other factors in play.
“We cannot afford to drift through this process,” Wehrli said. “We need a clear road map that identifies the drop-dead dates for evaluating IMEA, advancing alternatives, reviewing transmission and capacity risks, and understanding when delays start to cost us leverage, options, and, ultimately, money.”
Councilwoman Mary Gibson also spoke favorably of a timeline discussion, so long as it is independent of the IMEA contract deadlines.
“I think we need a timeline, where it’s discussed in open session, so we’re hearing, and the community’s hearing it,” Gibson said.
From his vantage point, Councilman Patrick Kelly said he viewed staff input on key benchmarks and timelines as an important part of the forthcoming deliberations to bring clarity to any ambiguity that currently exists.
“I would actually like to see some rough dates from city staff because I feel like I’ve heard differing dates from staff at different points in different meetings,” Kelly said.
A full look into all of the energy provider options
Several members of the dais emphasized their desire to use this renewed discussion as an opportunity to dig deeper into all of the options on the table.
“For me, specifically, I want to see non-IMEA options,” Councilwoman Supna Jain said. “I think we know IMEA. We’ve discussed that and have gotten to a point where there wasn’t a meeting of minds, despite a lot of resources and time being dedicated to it.”
During deliberations, Holzhauer said he also would like to see a broader discussion of energy procurement options. He said last year’s sole workshop on the topic was not productive.
“It was focused on one provider, one contract option, no strategic objectives,” Holzhauer said.
A separate new business item — a combination of suggestions Wehrli and Gibson presented — on timelines and energy provider options also received majority support on the dais.
“Keep in mind, my timeline is not specific to IMEA,” Wehrli said of his new business item proposal. “It’s everything, and all of the different things that are going to affect our decision-making.”
Plans call for city staff to begin issuing reports on timelines and energy provider options to the council during regular meetings in the months ahead, prior to the broader workshop later this year.
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