Electrical rates may decrease if the city is successful in its search for a cheaper source of power.
Public Works director Tom Talsma said the city plans this summer to hire Cornerstone Consulting Services of Sun Prairie, Wis., to assist in preparing requests for proposals from wholesale electrical suppliers and in analyzing those proposals.
“The (electricity) market for Geneva is expanding and the pricing is improving,” Talsma said. “We want our customers to benefit from the increased competition out there,” Talsma said.
Last year, neighboring Batavia and St. Charles conducted a similar search but ended up contracting with Commonwealth Edison, the same company from which the two cities had been buying electricity. Lower rates were the result in both municipalities.
Geneva has purchased its electricity wholesale from the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Electric Power Co. since 1986. The search is the city’s first since a 1992 federal law allowed municipally owned electrical utilities to buy from suppliers outside their region.
Talsma said in the past the city has been approached by as many as five companies at a time, some from as far away as Ontario, Canada, to see if there is interest in switching to a different supplier.
