Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Voyager Media Publications • shorewoodsentinel.com
community
Vol. 19 No. 35
guest column
Village decides on new company for ‘power aggregation’
By Stewart Warren staff reporter essica Ziker leaned closer, aimed and threw the dart. She missed. “Bust one, you win,” urged the carnival worker on Saturday afternoon at Shorewood’s Crossroads Fest, pointing at a row of balloons tacked to a backboard and surrounded by every kind of stuffed animal under the sun. He was trying to help Jessica, a resident of Marietta, Georgia. She badly wanted to take home a toy raccoon made of pink and purple plush, but so far, no go. So the carny gave her few more darts free of charge. “We make everyone a winner,” he said. What a lucky charm. Jessica popped a balloon and soon was cradling the fluffy critter. “I like soft toys. I’m a soft toy maker,” she said, explaining that she crochets her own stuffed creations. She had come to the fest with Steve Ziker of Channahon, her father, and Ritam Mukherjee of Wheeling, her fiancé, while vacationing. Steve has been going to as many local festivals as possible this summer, so they had to hit Crossroads Fest. He’s a fan of Annabell’s Bar-B-Q, and the Plainfield company was there serving food on Saturday. Their pork chop on a stick reminds him of the Indiana State Fair and his younger days, Steve said. That’s what Crossroads Fest is all about – home-style good times with family and friends, making and reliving memories. Now in its 38th year, the festival is a three-day party at the village’s sprawling Four Seasons Park on Seil Road.
See ‘crossroads’ page 2
Over two years ago, we entered into a“power aggregation” program with almost all the communities in Will County and a few outside of the county. This resulted in a tremendous savings of over $30 million for more than 3 2 0 , 0 0 0 electricity users by the versus what it numbers would have cost Homefield Energy them if they Contract would have stayed with ComEd as Village of Shorewood will contract with their producer of Homefield Energy at power. a rate of $0.0699/ Our contract kwh average over with First Energy a three-year period. Corporation In comparison, Com Ed rate is $0.0742/ was only good kwh at the start of the for two years program. The rate for and will expire Homefield reflects a in September. 6.5 percent savings For the past two to our residents if you choose to stay in the months, we, along aggregation program. with the rest of the communities, have been shopping for the best price from a multitude of suppliers and have found “Homefield Energy” to be the lowest price. As a group, we have decided to contract with them at a rate of $0.0699/kwh average over a three-year period. In comparison, Com Ed rate is $0.0742/kwh at the start of the program.The rate for Homefield reflects a 6.5 percent savings to our residents if you choose to stay in the aggregation program. If you choose to opt out of the program, you would see the ComEd rate reflected on your bill. The Homefield rate will be locked in for the next three years.The Com Ed rate can fluctuate up or down. It’s anyone’s guess as to which way it will go; our group >> see mayor | page 2