Orland Park’s New Electricity Supplier Is Picked, Now What?

picked an electricity supplier for its residents and small commercial buildings, and the savings should be seen on August bills, according to the village.

Orland Park chose Nordic Energy Services to provide the village’s juice, after a 3-3 tie vote among village board trustees, where Mayor Dan McLaughlin placed the final deciding vote at the May 7 board meeting.

Nordic offered a supplying rate of 4.82 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to First Energy Corp. who offered 4.79 cents. That compares to the 7.73 cents paid by Orland Parkers with ComEd now supplying.

Those who favored Nordic preferred that they are an Illinois-based company, while others liked Ohio-based First Energy’s greater experience in the supplying realm compared to Nordic, according to village officials.

“Both companies were very similar in nature, with the exception of about a .03 cent difference in rate,” said Orland Park Public Information Officer Joe LaMargo.

What happens next?

Letters are scheduled to be sent out by the end of May in village-marked envelopes with a sheet asking home and business owners whether they want to opt out of this supplier deal. Mail the sheet back to the village if you want to opt out. People who don’t return the letters will automatically be opted in to be supplied by Nordic.

What if I opt out?

ComEd will continue supplying your electricity unless you cut your own deal with a supplier.

If I opt in, when will the savings kick in?

Look for Nordic’s rate to appear on August bills.

How much will I save?

The average Orland Park home used about 11,000 kWh of electricity in 2011, according to David Hoover, executive director of NIMEC (who brokered the deal with Nordic). Hoover said ComEd’s supplying rate creeps up to 8.5 per kWh in June, over the 7.7 per kWh it charges now. So that means the savings equate to about 3.68 cents per kWh. So if people’s power use is the exact same over the course of a year as it was in 2011, then the average savings should be about $404.80 per household or building, according to Hoover.

What happens to ComEd?

Good question. ComEd still will appear on your bill, because they will still be distributing the power supplied by Nordic, and will be charging for that service. Both Nordic and ComEd will be listed on the bills. Think of Nordic as the gas station, and ComEd as the individual pumps.

Who fixes transformers and poles when a storm knocks out power?

That’s still ComEd’s responsibility as they are still distributing the electricity.

What if I don’t want to do this?

Pick to opt out when the village sends you the letter described above.

Is there a fee if I decide to find my own supplier after Nordic takes over?

No. Nordic does not have an early termination fee.

How long is Nordic going to supply the village?

The contract with Nordic is for two years. The offered two-year contract from Nordic had a better rate than their three-year deal (5.56 per kWh), and two years seems like a reasonable amount of time to gauge their effectiveness, LaMargo said. 

What if I already found my own supplier, and I’m no longer using ComEd?

You don’t have to do anything. You’ll continue with your current supplier contract, whatever those terms may be. But if you want to have Nordic supply you later, you’ll have to arrange that yourself with the company.

What happens after two years?

The possibility of switching suppliers will open back up. The village board will be able to choose to stay with Nordic, or see what else is out there.

NIMEC brokered the deal. What do they get out of this?

NIMEC earns “less than one half of one percent of this savings,” wrote Hoover in an email. Nordic will be paying a fee to NIMEC for their compensation, not the village, Hoover said.

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