The Public Utilities Advisory Board (PUAB) held a special meeting on April 8, 2025 at 5:03 PM in City Council Chambers to consider the City of Naperville's future electricity supply. After receiving presentations from energy law experts, the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST), and reviewing a recommendation from Customized Energy Solutions (CES), the board voted 4-3 to recommend that the City Council accept the CES recommendation: continue procuring energy through IMEA and explore the Member Directed Resource (MDR) clause.
Six members of the public spoke:
Greg Hubert (CleanEnergyNaperville.org): Argued that the claimed PJM accredited capacity requirements for IMEA are a myth. He stated that PJM requires load-serving entities to pay reliability charges, not to hold accredited capacity. He stated IMEA's narrative that Naperville would need over half a billion dollars in solar capacity is based on a misunderstanding. He provided a handout.
Marilyn Schweitzer (38-year resident): Criticized the rushed process, noting that for four years the board has known about changing markets but has no documented plan. She stated that IMEA is pushing for contract acceptance by April 30, 2025, while City Council wants a workshop after the new council is seated. She urged the board to recommend a rigorous evaluation process rather than a single option.
Ferris Arageen (North Central College student): Opposed renewing the IMEA contract due to environmental and health impacts of coal. He cited that Illinois gets 55% of energy from nuclear, 13% from renewables, only 33% from fossil fuels. He argued renewable technologies are becoming cheaper and more viable, and urged leadership in moving away from coal.
Steve Weber (30-year resident, manufacturing background): Highlighted four risks of operating a coal plant in a sunset industry: escalating costs from declining scale, aging machinery and parts availability, loss of skilled workforce, and potential new regulations (e.g., carbon capture). He analogized the plant to an old car that becomes increasingly expensive to maintain.
Graham Morin (energy consultant since 2011, resident since 2009): Presented cost analysis claiming Naperville has paid about a $320 million premium to IMEA over 10 years (42% above ComEd market rates). He said IMEA's transmission costs increased 12% per year vs. ComEd's 2.6%. He argued for comprehensive analysis of wholesale costs and demand response strategies that could save up to $300 million over 10 years. He called the CES residential rate comparison a "red herring."
Richard Stark (6-year resident, retired VP of corporate development): Observed that CES projections show IMEA costs nearly tripling by 2050, driven by Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC) requirements. He stated key information is missing—no equivalent long-term projections for alternatives like Constellation or ComEd. He proposed generating comparable cost graphs for those options, including peak shaving.
Presentation from CJT Energy Law, LLC and The Power Bureau (Chris Townsend and Mark Pruitt):
Presentation from Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST):
Board Discussion and Vote:
Note: The City Council has stated they will not vote before the April 30 deadline and plan a workshop after the new council is seated. The PUAB's recommendation is advisory.
I'd like to call this meeting to order. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome you to the April 8th Special Session Public Utilities Advisory Board Meeting. This is our third meeting of this year. My name is Lou Halkias, and I'm the chair of the board and will be conducting the meeting today. Before we begin, for the benefit of our citizens and for those attending or viewing uh video programming, I would like to request the members of this board and student representatives to briefly describe their backgrounds that relates to the mission of the PUAB. Jim, you want to start? Background. Brief background. My name is Jim Fular. I'm a Naperville resident since 1991. I have a uh chemical engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, a master's degree from the University of Chicago. I spent 44 years in the energy industry with about 15 of those years uh heavily involved in electrical procurement, which is one of the reasons why I decided to join this join this board. Hello, I'm Abbas Bekaburawala. I'm a civil engineer by profession. I'm licensed in uh I'm uh licensed as a professional engineer in the state of Illinois. I've worked with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for 23 years. So my specialization or expertise is invest water treatment. Um since 11 years, hi, good evening, Michelle Ackman. I'm born and raised in Naperville. Uh my career has been in sustainability and energy efficiency. Most recently working for Commonwealth Edison. Hi, good evening, everyone. My name is Phil Schreber. I also have a degree in civil engineering. I'm licensed professional engineer. I spent 25 years in consulting engineering utilities and about 15 years of that working in consulting engineering and energy helping some of the largest users in the world. Um, companies like Microsoft Nestle manage their supply and demand side energy, including helping some of them transition through many initiatives kind of like the City of Naperville is taking on understanding renewables, uh, large distributed energy storage projects, microgrids, etc. Thank you. Student student representatives. Oh, I see you. Okay. Hello. Uh my name is Hans Roder. I'm one of the student representatives from Naperville Central. Hello, my name is Bob Nielaverty, and I'm one of the student representatives from Mikwa Valley. Uh good evening. My name is Russell Pollack. Um I have spent my entire adult life and professional career in uh competitive energy markets focused on energy procurement, commodity price risk, commodity price risk management, and uh currently manage a little over 200 million dollars a year in energy spend. Good evening. My name is Brandon Haft. Uh while I work in higher education and have done so for the last 12 years. Before that, I worked for six years uh in the wind energy space on the asset um service side, and uh I uh have uh a law degree in MBA and I'm a lifelong Naperville resident. My name is Lou Halkias. I am a resident of Naperville over 40 years. Uh I'm a retired federal law enforcement officer, 32 years. Uh 22 of those years were with the uh U.S. EPA uh criminal enforcement program, and uh I ended up uh as the acting director for the entire program, and uh also uh uh organized training for state and local law enforcement to know what resources are available to them. Thank you, everyone for that. Uh Mayor, would you like to uh roll call, please?