City Council votes to move forward with municipal aggregation, hires company to make water system more efficient
Council members voted unanimously to move forward with municipal aggregation.
The members passed an electric aggregation plan of operation and governance and will begin sending out bids to various energy suppliers within the next couple of weeks.
City Manager Ryan McCrady says passing the plan was important because it allows for the city, as well as energy consultant Good Energy to begin sending out bids immediately.
McCrady added that if you do not wish to take part in municipal aggregation, there will be several opportunities for you to opt-out…
“Every citizen will get a letter that allows them 19 days to opt out and once a bid is secured, the winning supplier will then send out an additional letter that allows for 10 more days of opt out eligibility.”
One of the things to be taken into consideration is the length of contract. McCrady says that contract lengths vary from 12 months, to 17 months, to 24 months, to 36 months.
If the city chooses a 17 month contract it would allow for us to join in with other major cities whose contracts are up at the same time.
The next discussion period is set for December 11th.
Johnson Controls contracted to improve water meter accuracy
Looking to save on energy costs to both residential homes and businesses alike; the City Council approved an area consulting firm to begin testing the water meter systems throughout the city.
Johnson Controls will make sure that the water meters throughout Decatur are working properly, and if not, they will suggest ways to rectify the problem.
General Manager of the Illinois Branch Rick Smith says, much like anything mechanical, water meters need to be recalibrated…
“What we will be testing for primarily is the accuracy of the meters. Keep in mind that these are mechanical devices and they have a tendency to wear and tear. The main objective of this project is to identify the opportunities for savings within the various types of meters.”
City Water Manager Keith Alexander says that the meters will have to be replaced eventually anyways, this just allows the city to better identify if there are any savings possible with the upgrades.
Work is set to begin within the next couple weeks and a plan is to be presented to the city council by April of 2013.
