2012-82 AUTHORIZING AGGREGATION OF ELECTRIC LOAD AND ADOPTING ELECTRIC AGGREGATION PLAN

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DEVELOPMENT SERVICES MEMORANDUM No. 12-55 November 19, 2012 TO: Honorable Mayor Michael T. McElroy and City Council FROM: Ryan P. McCrady, City Manager Billy Tyus, Assistant City Manager Vasudha Pinnamaraju, AICP, Environmental Planner SUBJECT: Municipal Aggregation Plan of Operation and Governance. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the attached Municipal Electric Aggregation Plan of Operation and Governance. BACKGROUND: On July 30th 2012 the Decatur City Council passed a resolution placing a referendum question on the November 6, 2012 ballot, which, if approved, would allow the City of Decatur to undertake the process of Municipal Electric Aggregation (aggregation). Electors of the City of Decatur passed the referendum by 57%. Following the vote, the next step in the process was to develop the attached Plan of Operation and Governance, which is an outline of how the City intends to operate its aggregation program. The Illinois Power Agency Act — 096-0176 requires that the municipality hold at least 2 public hearings on the Plan of operation and governance to obtain public comment, which we have also done. If the Decatur City Council approves the attached plan, or some variation, the next step in the process will be to select an Alternate Retail Energy Supplier (ARES) through a competitive RFP process. Our consultant, Good Energy, will be assisting the City with this process. Major aspects of the plan include: Price Match Guarantee: This is a protection for residents that the city will require from the ARES and it is included in the plan of operation and governance. The selected ARES will be required to match future Ameren tariff rates in the event Ameren tariff rates decrease in price below the aggregation program's price per kilowatt-hour. Single Billing: The single billing requirement calls for Ameren to continue to bill customers. In addition to providing consistency to existing customers, single billing will also ensure that customers on LIHEAP and PIPP energy assistance programs continue to get assistance from the state on their energy bills. This also allows customers to be able to participate in Ameren's budget billing program. Length of Contact and Power mix: The plan leaves the length of the contract and the power mix (traditional vs. renewable power) to be determined by the city on the bid day based on the pricing per kWh. ARES are required to provide the information for 12 month, 17 month, 24 month and 36 month terms in "lowest power mix," 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% REC supported mixes.