One of the reasons Geneva decided years ago to become its own electric-power provider was the notion that the city could perform the service more cheaply than Commonwealth Edison.
And for a lot of years, that was true. Cheaper electricity was one of the selling points to new developers, especially industrial tenants who would save significantly by moving here.
A report to the city of Batavia from its Public Works Department superintendent, however, indicates that customers of Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles and other communities are paying more than ComEd rates, due in part to their purchase of shares of Prairie State Energy.
Prairie State is a 1,600-megawatt base load, coal-fired, electrical power station and coal mine near Marissa, IL southeast of St. Louis, MO developed by Peabody Energy. Municipalities bought into Prairie State because Prairie State promised clean-coal technology, a stable electricity source and cheaper rates.
But Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles and other communities are finding that the promises weren't all fulfilled, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis.
"Instead of being a source of low-cost electricity, the first year cost of power from Prairie State is 40 to 100 percent higher than the current cost of power in the Midwest wholesale markets and is expected to remain higher than market prices for the next 10 to 13 years, if not longer," the report said.
The Batavia Public Works report, which can be seen here, indicates that Geneva residential users pay more than their counterparts in Batavia, St. Charles, Naperville and communities served by ComEd, at every level of usage, from 500 kilowatts to 2,500 kilowatts, during the summer months. Rochelle is the only other community in the report, and its rates are most often the highest of the group.
Geneva residents pay less than Batavians during the non-summer months, according to the graphs provided in the Batavia report.
For the large general-service monthly users — we're talking 11,775 killowatts, according to the charts — Batavia users pay more during the non-summer months and Geneva users pay more during the summer months.
ComEd's rates are the lowest on the graphs in almost every category.
