City of Champaign Announces Municipal Electric Aggregation Program Update
City’s Program Saved Participants $11.8 Million During the Last 21 Months
The City of Champaign has signed an agreement with Constellation New Energy, Inc. (Constellation) to be the next electricity supplier for the City’s Municipal Electric Aggregation (MEA) program. As approved by Champaign voters in 2012, the MEA program allows the City to negotiate a bulk-buy, discounted rate for electricity supply for residents and small businesses through a competitive bidding process.
Constellation’s contracted rate is $0.07863 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and will be effective starting with August 2023 meter reads and run through July 2024 meter reads. This rate is slightly lower than Ameren Illinois’s (Ameren) current rate of $0.07877/kWh. It is also considerably lower than rates recently published for MEA programs in neighboring communities and around the state. As always, Ameren will continue to distribute electricity and bill customers for their power use. There is no need for any utility workers or City employees to come to your home/business to make any changes.
Under the City’s expiring two-year contract with Energy Harbor, the City’s MEA participants experienced a savings of $11.8 million from July 2021 through March 2023. Much of that savings is due to large price increases in the energy market since the last contract was signed, particularly during the June 2022 – May 2023 period. During the recent competitive process to select a new energy supplier, Ameren’s price to compare to was as high as $0.11833/kWh. However, after the recent MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) auction, Ameren’s price dropped to the current rate of $0.07877/kWh.
Over the next several weeks, Ameren will send out letters to customers who are part of the City’s current MEA program with energy supplier Energy Harbor. Because of a delay due to an extraordinary change in the wholesale electricity market, the new MEA contract will not start until a month or two after the contract with Energy Harbor ends. For this one-to-two-month period, all MEA customers will receive their electricity supply from Ameren for one-to-two billing cycles at the slightly higher Ameren rate.
In July, Constellation will send all eligible MEA customers a welcome letter that includes an option to opt-out of the City’s MEA program. There will also be an option for customers to purchase additional renewable energy than the Illinois minimum requirement. Residents and businesses that receive the welcome letter and wish to continue to participate in the City’s MEA program do not need to do anything. Customers who no longer wish to participate in the City’s MEA program will need to follow the opt-out instructions in the letter. Current “Real Time”, “Net
Updated information about the MEA program will be posted on the City’s website (champaignil.gov/mea) as it becomes available. Additional questions may be directed to the City of Champaign Public Works Department at 217-403-4700 between the hours of 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.