Thornton to seek referendum on cheaper electric alternative

THORNTON | When Thornton residents go to the polls March 20, they will vote on a referendum that has the potential to lower electric bills.

The Village Board last week unanimously approved an ordinance to place the electric aggregation referendum on the ballot.

"The intent is to allow the municipality to seek competitive bids for the supply of electricity for the residents," Village Administrator Jason Wicha said.

Voters must pass the referendum to allow the village to proceed.

"While any individual resident is free to shop around for an energy supplier currently, there are savings to be realized by aggregating their energy usage as an entire community versus an individual resident," Wicha said.

Glenwood passed a similar referendum in April. Wicha said residents of Flossmoor, Park Forest and South Holland also will vote on electric aggregation referendums.

"This only addresses the actual supplier of the energy," Wicha said. "ComEd will still be responsible for the delivery of the energy."

Trustee Joe Pisarzewski said the village is following suit with other communities in pursuing the electric aggregation process as a way to save residents money.

He said residents in communities that have passed similar referendums have typically saved $175 to $200 annually.

"We'll probably have some Town Hall meetings to educate the people on this," Pisarzewski said.

In other village news, the Village Board accepted a bid of a little more than $9,000 from Tri-State Disposal Inc. for the demolition and subsequent debris removal for the house at 307 Blackstone St.

"This is a house that the village acquired at no cost earlier this calendar year," Wicha said. "The house had been in foreclosure and had been vacant for several years. Unfortunately, the house had significant structural deficiencies that made it impractical to expect it ever to be fit for occupancy."

The village plans to sell the lot so that a new house can be built there.

"This was part of our continuing efforts to clean up our neighborhoods and to make sure that any blighted or unsightly properties are dealt with accordingly and aggressively," Wicha said.