Electricity Referendum Forums Planned

Residents of Palatine and nearby communities will have the opportunity to learn more about the March 20 at three public meetings.

Voters in Palatine, Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Long Grove, Lincolnshire, Vernon Hills and Wheeling will be asked on the primary election ballot whether residents of those towns should have an alternative to ComEd. Their responses will determine whether each community seeks competitive pricing bids for electrical services.

Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said that a 2010 law allows the village to transfer electric accounts to alternate suppliers – essentially its posslble now for residents to be grouped together into a larger energy user.

"The villages receive no financial benefit from this initiative," the Palatine Village website states. "The purpose of pursuing this initiative is to lower electricity costs for the benefit of residents and businesses within each participating municipality."

Ottesen said other areas that have pursued aggregation have been able to reduce energy costs to residents by as much as 25.5 percent in the summer and about 24 percent the rest of the year.

Even if the referendum is approved no one would be forced to leave their current energy supplier.

Meetings are scheduled for at the Arlington Heights Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road; at the Buffalo Grove Village Hall, 50 Raupp Boulevard; and at the Vernon Hills Village Hall, 290 Evergreen Drive.

For more information visit the Palatine Village website or call 847-359-9050.