Winnetka trustees support IMEA contract amid resident criticism

The Winnetka Village Council is on the cusp of renewing its contract with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, but community members urged the council to slow things down and continue reviewing alternatives to the power supplier.

During a three-and-a-half-hour meeting on Tuesday, June 3, trustees unanimously voted to introduce the contract renewal with IMEA, which has provided the village’s power since 1991.

As previously reported by The Record in May 2024, IMEA’s contract is not set to expire until September 2035, but the agency is asking its member communities to renew now so they can prepare for the transition from carbon-based to renewable resources.

If approved, the village’s contract with IMEA would run from 2035-2055.

Trustees have discussed the IMEA contract renewal in four study sessions over the past year, the latest on May 13.

Prior to discussion and public comment, trustees heard presentations from Nick Narhi, the village’s director of water and electric, and Mark Pruitt, the principal of the Illinois Power Bureau and Illinois Community Choice Aggregation Network, both of whom addressed questions that came up during the previous study session.

Narhi said that in a projected utility bill from June 2025, ComEd customers would pay approximately 12% more than Winnetka, while adding that Winnetka receives credits from IMEA because the village has its own power plant.

Pruitt conducted an analysis that compared wholesale electricity rates to other providers, including PJM, an alternative to IMEA.

Residents urge to consider options

During nearly 40 minutes of public comment, 12 residents spoke against the renewal of the IMEA contract, primarily expressing concern’s about IMEA’s reliance on coal.

“I urge you to delay signing the contract extension with IMEA,” resident Cindy Schrader said. “Signing that now puts Winnetka on the wrong side of environmental trends and imperatives.”

She encouraged the trustees to take their time and look at alternative suppliers.

“None of us has a crystal ball, but you don’t need a crystal ball to know that coal is not the future,” she said. “Give our community and our children a future. Take the time to explore alternative suppliers and sources, please.”

Teri Cross, with Go Green Winnetka, called the IMEA contract renewal a “big mistake” and said the Village needs to concentrate its efforts on reducing energy consumption.

Cross cited a 2022 study from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning that shows Winnetka households use 2.4 times more electricity per capita than other Cook County households.

“We can and should do better,” she said. “Go Green Winnetka would like to work with the village in coming up with real-world solutions to significantly reduce Winnetka’s electricity consumption by promoting solar panel adoption and other efficiency measures throughout the village. Let’s start now.”

Tom Barron criticized the village’s focus on IMEA and power marketers, saying there are other options available that he feels the village has not yet considered.

“Can those other providers do what IMEA does for us today?” he asked. “To my knowledge, they haven’t been here to present and they haven’t had a chance to tell us and all of what they can, in fact, do.”

He also said the Village didn’t do community outreach to ask what their priorities are for energy.

“It’s distressing to me that we haven’t considered the other providers, and I encourage you in the strongest terms to do that,” Barron said.

Trustees: Risk of leaving IMEA too great

While trustees thanked residents for sharing their concerns, ultimately, they all said that renewing the IMEA contract is the best option for Winnetka at this time.

Nearly every trustee said that they do not support using coal as an energy source; however, IMEA has been a dependable partner for the village, keeping costs down and providing reliable service, and they believe the organization will move to more renewable sources.

Multiple trustees, including Kirk Albinson, noted that Winnetka has a representative on the IMEA board and can help influence the organization’s policy.

“I feel as though we can, with strength, help shape the future of IMEA to help transition away from coal,” he said.

Albinson added that he considers himself a “risk averse” person, and that he’s uncomfortable with leaving IMEA.

“As much as I don’t like coal, as much as I would love for us to go it alone and feel confident about our future, I don’t have confidence that we will account for the risk and the cost element if we decide to leave IMEA,” he said.

Trustee Kim Handler said that IMEA allows the village to keep its rates low and stable, provides reliable service and helps the village move to a cleaner future.

“I recognize it’s not a perfect system. Nothing out there is perfect,” she said. “But I think it’s one I know we can shape and influence and one that gives us the financial foundation to lead us on to pursue sustainability goals that we’d like to pursue as a community.”

She also said that Illinois law requires coal production plants to be phased out by 2045.

Responding to the requests to take more time, Trustee Tina Dalman said now is the time to act for renewable energy, because IMEA is planning for it now.

“And for them as an agency to do that, they’re going to need to know who’s in and who’s out,” she said.

Trustee Rob Apatoff also said waiting for a future council to make a decision isn’t a good idea.

“We have a history of, when we kick things down the road in this village, it comes back to bite us,” he said.

Village President Bob Dearborn called the IMEA renewal “complex,” and said the village has been diligent in its review process, noting that the issue has been studied for 14 months, included multiple study sessions, public meetings, “hundreds of hours” of work by village staff, and attendance at the recent Future Energy Coalition Forum.

He also acknowledged that any decision the village makes will not be an easy one.

“We have this responsibility to the environment, but we also have a responsibility to the future 12,000 plus residents or more that will need and expect reliable electric service,” Dearborn said. “And that’s what makes this so difficult.”

A final vote on renewing the IMEA contract is expected at the council’s June 17 regular meeting.

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