Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Community Solar topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Riverside trustees opt to keep electrical aggregation as primary program; agree to expand resident education on community solar options
Summary
After a staff presentation on community solar options and potential consultant costs, trustees agreed Feb. 6 to maintain the village's electrical aggregation program as the primary approach to procuring green energy and to increase public information about community solar subscribers residents can enroll in independently.
Village staff briefed the Board of Trustees Feb. 6 on community solar options and the trade-offs between the village promoting a single community solar vendor, hiring an independent consultant for public education, or continuing solely with the existing electrical aggregation program.
Clerk Sowell described staff's estimate that hiring a neutral consultant for public education would cost roughly $50 per hour for 100 to 200 hours annually (an estimated $5,000—10,000 per year). Staff also summarized outreach to the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and Oak Park's Sustainability and Resilience Office; Oak Park reported about 1,000 households initially signed up for its community solar offering but only about 318 were currently enrolled, and Oak Park has roughly 2.5 full-time staff dedicated to sustainability work.
Staff noted differences among community-solar providers in availability and wait lists and emphasized that community solar is opt-in (subscribers must enroll) and typically results in two bills: a credit on the utility bill and a separate invoice from the solar provider. Staff cautioned that introducing a promotional campaign could create an information workload for village staff and risk resident confusion, and that third-party vendors sometimes send misleading mailers during aggregation renewals.
During discussion trustees and staff agreed by consensus to continue the village's electrical aggregation as the primary program and to improve communications so residents know community solar is an available, opt-in option they may pursue on their own. The board did not select or endorse a single community-solar provider, and staff said any decision to partner with a particular vendor (which often provides consultant services at no cost to the village) would be separate and require additional direction.
Staff listed the current aggregation contract pricing referenced earlier in the meeting: the board had previously approved an aggregation rate of just over 8 cents per kilowatt-hour with MC Squared, while the annualized ComEd rate is about 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The board directed staff to include clearer education and frequently asked questions in future outreach about aggregation renewals and community solar options so residents understand opt-in mechanics, potential billing complexity and waiting-list issues.
