New Illinois company hopes to offer cheaper power
GREENVILLE, ILLINOIS - A new not-for-profit venture hopes to offer cheaper electricity in central and southern Illinois.
New Illinois Cooperative Energy, or NICE, was developed by Illinoisans upset with electric rate increases since last year. It's led by Greenville-based Southwestern Electric Cooperative.
NICE hopes to get a large enough pool of customers to let the co-op negotiate attractive power-purchase prices.
The venture would draw lower rates by buying electricity more often and timing the market to catch lower prices.
NICE customers would still will get their power from Ameren, the distributing company, over Ameren's lines.
At least 7,000 customers must sign up in Ameren's service territory before the program may start.
Related News
Key Ontario power system staff may end up locked down at work sites due to COVID-19, operator says
TORONTO - A group of personnel key to keeping Ontario's electricity system functioning may end up locked down in their control centres due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to the head of the province's power operator.
But that has so far proven unnecessary with a change-up in routine, Independent Electricity System Operator CEO Peter Gregg said.
While about 90 per cent of staff were sent to work from home on March 13, another 48 control-room operators deemed essential are still going into work, Gregg said in an interview.
"We identified a smaller cohort of critical operations room staff that need to go in…
