Oswego to consider community solar program to help residents save on electric bills

The Oswego Village Board is set to discuss the possible start-up of a community solar program that, if implemented, could save village residents some money on their monthly electric bills.

The village board will discuss a community solar program when they gather for their next committee-of-the-whole meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 at Village Hall, 100 Parker’s Mill.

In a memo to the board, village staff members reported they learned in April of community solar programs designed to reduce electric costs and support clean energy.

As proposed by village staff, residents who would sign-up for the village program would have a solar farm deliver electricity to their homes and they would receives credits on their monthly electricity bills.

With the assistance of representatives from the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative, the village’s utility consultants since 2007, village staff said they have identified two potential community solar suppliers for a village program.

If the board were to approve the program, the village would select one of the suppliers who would, in turn, mail postcards to villages residents inviting them to enroll in the program. The village’s logo would appear on the postcards, but they would be mailed at the suppliers’ expense.

Residents who would voluntarily subscribe to the program would receive credits for their subscriptions on their monthly electric bills.

“Whichever supplier the the village chooses would then bill the residents for their credits, but at a discounted rate, thus saving the residents money on their electric bill,” the memo reads.

The memo continues: “In terms of a real-life comparable example, a community solar program is comparable to a restaurant rewards program. Restaurants such as Chipotle offer rewards programs to customers who opt-in. There is no penalty for not opting in, but people who opt-in receive rewards they would not have had they not opted in.

“Another way to look at this would be to think of a rebate program. Customers make a purchase and then receive money back for making their purchase. In this case, it would be solar energy,” the memo states.