Dive Brief:
- The city of Chicago is ending its municipal aggregation program with Constellation Energy and will return all residents with contracts with the company back to Commonwealth Edison electric service, Crain's Chicago Business reports.
- The city will end its deal this fall, two years after signing the pact, after determining that it could not save money buying electricity from Constellation on behalf of its residents.
- Chicago's municipal aggregation program is the largest in the country.
Dive Insight:
The aggregation program was good deal during the hot summer of 2013, but not so much during last year's hottest months. Chicago residents saved money in the first year of the large-scale municipal power pact, Crain's Chicago Business reported, but in 2014 many customers paid more under the city's contract with Integrys Energy Services, which is now Constellation Energy Services. As a result, this fall the city will return customers to Commonwealth Edison's service.
Chicago told residents that those who took service from Constellation would save about 11% over the first 15 months of the contract, or up to $165 in monthly savings. The deal also called for cleaner energy use, and a coal-free portfolio.
According to Crain's, the city issued a statement saying “continuing the program would not have resulted in substantial savings for consumers while returning residents to ComEd will reinvigorate funding for investment in the state's renewable energy portfolio."
Residents will be automatically returned to ComEd service unless they chooese to opt out, as they had to explicitly state they wanted to remain with the incumbent utility when the program was started.