 Kitzmiller, who is currently a district manager for American Water,
is also formerly the waste treatment plant manager for the city of
Lincoln. When Kitzmiller was in that role, he worked to find an
independent electric supplier for the waste treatment plant. In the
end, the city agreed to go with MidAmerican Energy for the treatment
plant and also for a selection of city-owned properties. Busby
began by saying he was concerned the city had acted in error when
they voted last week to hire BlueStar.
Generally speaking, there is some confusion as to what the city
is getting from BlueStar. This may be due in part to the fact
BlueStar offers consulting services but is also an electric broker.
When Busby said the city had made an error, he was working under
the assumption that BlueStar was going to be an electric broker for
the city. He said that in the presentation BlueStar had given, they
had never established their rates, and if the result comes back that
they are actually higher than Ameren Illinois, the council will be
in trouble with its constituents.
Later, as discussion ensued, it was clarified that BlueStar, at
this point at least, is not the city's chosen broker, only their
chosen consultant.
However, during the discussions, some other issues came to light
that caused the council to feel perhaps they should dig a little
deeper and see if there are other consulting firms available, and
also to bring BlueStar back and ask for greater clarification on
some of the issues.
Kitzmiller opened by recalling a council meeting he had sat in on
when the BlueStar representative had been asked how the program
worked, and he had responded that once the firm was hired, they
would then explain the process. Kitzmiller felt they should have
been able to give the council better details on what their plan
would be.
City attorney Bill Bates said he had also had a bit of an issue
with them in that he had sought their guidance on what the city
needed to pass a resolution or an ordinance in order to put the
referendum on the ballot. Bates said they had not been able to
answer his question, and that concerned him. He had found the answer
he felt was correct on his own, from another source.
Alderman David Wilmert asked if the city was obligated to have a
consultant prior to the referendum. Technically perhaps not, but
Anderson brought up that BlueStar has promised to educate the public
on the referendum issue for the city, something no one in city
government actually has the time to do.
It was also brought up that there are very few consulting firms
out there who do this type of work, and so far BlueStar is the only
one who has contacted the city.
Another point brought up was that BlueStar is working throughout
Logan County and has several communities on board with them. This is
to the city's advantage because with possibly the entire county
under one plan, the volume pricing offered would create greater
savings for local residents and small businesses.
It was also noted that the city would in essence become the
broker for its residents. It was noted if customers were not happy
with their rates; the one they would come to would be the city, not
BlueStar.
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Kitzmiller explained the Ameren rate is three years behind the
market. He said this could very well mean three years from now, the
Ameren rates could be considerably lower than they are today.
Because of this, he suggested the city only sign into a one-year
agreement with any electric provider and that they set the term to
end in June. He said this would keep the city from being locked into
a price that could end up higher than Ameren at the end of the next
three years.
He also said residents need to be aware that while they can opt
out of the new plan, if they stay in and then later decide to go
back to Ameren, there are time frames they have to work within. They
cannot just decide to switch and do it.
O'Donohue said he has used an independent electric provider for
his business building for quite some time. He re-evaluates his rates
and provider every two years. When he decided to go this route, he
had four different consultants he talked to, so he knows they are
out there.
Kitzmiller also spoke about Mike Ellis. Ellis was the
representative for MidAmerican Energy when the city chose to do
business with them for the waste treatment plant. Since that time,
Ellis has left MidAmerican and is now offering his services as a
consultant.
Kitzmiller said he hasn't discussed any of this with Ellis, but
he would be happy to contact him if the city would be interested. He
said he wasn't certain how Ellis would handle it, but he might be
willing to come to the council and answer questions about the
electric aggregation process.
In the end, the council decided they want to talk with Ellis if
he will come, and they also want to hear from BlueStar again. They
still have questions they feel need to be answered more clearly.
The council did pass a motion last week to enter into an
agreement with BlueStar, but it was passed conditionally. The
council can back out of the agreement because the document did not
name the term length of the contract. Since then, Bates said he'd
heard from BlueStar that the contract length will be three years.
The council can find that unacceptable and back out of the
agreement, or they can vote to rescind if needed.
[By NILA SMITH]
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