Oak Park reviews municipal aggregation, community solar as contract renewal nears

Oak Park village staff and energy consultants on Monday briefed the Village Board on the status of the village's municipal aggregation and community solar programs and recommended preparing now for a contract renewal that expires in December 2025.

The presentation, led by Mark Pruett of the Illinois Community Choice Aggregation Network and Sharon Allegato of MC Squared (MC2), outlined how Oak Park's municipal aggregation 2 model works, current participation and the link between market prices, account participation and the village's civic contribution from its supplier contract.

The update matters because the village receives municipal contributions from its aggregation contract that fund sustainability programs. Under the current MC2 contract the village receives a base $2,500 per month (the minimum for 5,000 accounts) plus $0.50 per account above that minimum; since December 2018 the program has contributed roughly $1.8 million in total to the village, staff said.

MC Squared reported that the eligible portfolio is about 25,000 accounts (residential and small commercial) representing about 180 million kilowatt-hours annually. The aggregation currently serves almost 12,000 accounts — about 49% of the eligible load — equivalent to roughly 88 million kWh. Community solar has about 398 Oak Park subscribers across eight projects, MC2 said.

Pruett and Allegato told the board that higher wholesale and capacity prices expected this summer and continuing into 2027–2028 are likely to increase the number of accounts that MC2 or another retail supplier can serve under aggregation 2, which would raise the village's civic contribution under the current per-account formula. "An increase in the number of accounts means more civic funds," Pruett said.

Allegato noted that community solar subscriptions have typically let residents retain about 20% of the monthly bill credit; she said state incentives are scheduled to step down and that retained consumer shares may fall toward 10% over time. She also said improvements in ComEd's billing system could allow single-bill crediting (so subscribers receive credits on their ComEd bill without a second payment to the solar developer), which she said would make participation easier and could accelerate enrollment.

Board members asked several operational and contract questions. Trustee questions focused on MC2's profit margins per account, whether the village could revisit the civic contribution formula (per-kWh vs. per-account), and whether outreach could increase participation. MC2 declined to disclose profit margins on the record without checking proprietary or contractual confidentiality limits; the company said it would take that question back to management and respond through staff. Village staff agreed to review the contract confidentiality language and, as requested by trustees, to provide the board a copy of the contract and analysis of potential revenue outcomes if market prices change.

Staff told the board it will run the next opt-out cycle in the coming weeks and expected to mail about 3,500 opt-out notices this week; MC2 said historical opt-out rates average about 5–10% and staff said the additional mailings should increase the number of accounts served and thus the monthly civic contribution in coming months.

Several trustees asked staff to consider negotiating a larger share of supplier margins or returning to a per-kWh civic contribution if market conditions make that approach more favorable. Mark Pruett said the village and its advisor typically solicit pricing for both aggregation models in future solicitations to give the village options.

Action items: staff and MC2 said they will provide follow-up material to the board, including (1) clarification on contractual confidentiality about profit-margin disclosure; (2) projected civic-contribution scenarios tied to rising ComEd rates and expected increases in served accounts; and (3) a report back on outreach options to increase enrollment. No vote was taken at the presentation, which staff said is preparatory for the contract renewal process this year.

The board will consider contract renewal options and any recommended ordinance or contract changes later this year as the village moves toward a solicitation and renewal for the December 2025 contract expiration.