Community Choice Electricity Aggregation

MC² guarantees that customers participating in the program will pay no more or nor less than the ComEd default rate (which fluctuates monthly). Program participants will pay the exact same rate as those on ComEd.

The price to compare that ComEd files with the ICC periodically is the comparison rate to the City's negotiated rate with MC-Squared Energy Services. The price to compare is the Electricity Supply Charge + the Transmission Services Charge (see sample ComEd bill). Both of these charges change over time.

The City would like to remind residents that ComEd’s price to compare can change monthly by +/- $0.05/kWh due to the fluctuation in electricity markets.

Additional information related to ComEd's price to compare can be found by reviewing the report they submitted with the ICC, here, or by visiting the  Plug In Illinois webpage.

City staff completed a competitive purchasing process to identify electric suppliers in Illinois to provide prices and MC² was the only electric supplier to provide prices that matched ComEd’s price, all other prices were above ComEd’s default rate and would not guarantee savings to residents. City Council approved this extension on Monday, March 31, 2025. You can find the staff memo and a copy of the agreement.

On March 31st, 2025 the Evanston City Council approved a one year extension to the agreement, ending March 31st, 2026. 

Please visit the MC-Squared (MC²) website for more information on the company.

MC-Squared is required by law to send letters to all eligible participants to notify them of the new agreement terms and to provide them with the option to “opt out” or "opt in". New Evanston residents will be enrolled in the program at the same rates as other participants if they take no action after receiving their opt out notice.

Depending on what type of electric rate that a customer has there is a different letter that is sent. The vast majority of eligible customers should have received a version of the Aggregation Opt Out Letter. If you received a different letter and are concerned about the validity, please send a copy or image of the letter to sustainability@cityofevanston.org.

In this new program, many customers also received a copy of a letter saying they will be returned to ComEd Service, please see below for details.

As part of the City’s community choice electricity aggregation program, MC-Squared annually reviews accounts to determine which are eligible to continue participating in the program. Due to a recent change in ComEd’s regulated capacity charge, which is based on electricity needed to meet peak demand and is unique to each account, the best option for the City’s aggregation program was for your account to be returned to ComEd’s tariff-based supply service. You will continue to pay the same electricity supply rates whether your account is on ComEd’s tariff-based supply service or MC-Squared Energy’s supply service.  (Example letter.)

Evanston’s community choice electricity aggregation program ensures that the power supply cost for participating residential and small business customers is the same as ComEd’s tariff-based rates while also providing the City with an annual civic contribution paid by MC-Squared Energy Services. The contribution may be used to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in the City’s name or for other City initiatives to support the City’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan at no additional cost to residents or the City. The City will determine the best use of the annual civic contribution on an annual basis, which may include a percentage of RECs. However, the “green” energy offsets will not be known until after the City decides how to allocate the annual civic contribution.

Although your account is being returned to ComEd’s tariff-based supply service, you can continue to support climate action by participating in the Evanston Community Solar Program. Becoming a Community Solar subscriber allows you to support new renewable solar projects and receive net metering credits on your ComEd bill each month.

All residential and small business customers can choose to opt out of the program altogether and stick with ComEd’s purchased electricity, or choose a supplier on their own. If you opt out and later decide that you want to participate in the program, you may do so. You may opt in or opt out at any time without penalty or charge.

You have twenty-one (21) days from the date of receiving an opt out notice to opt out of the program by calling 855-697-0285, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, or returning the postage-prepaid card included in your notice. Consider calling toll-free 855-697-0285 or emailing Evanston@mc2energyservices.com  to opt out of the program.   Please note that you may opt-out at any time during the term of the program at no cost or penalty to you.

If you do not opt out of the Aggregation Program, you will be deemed to have authorized and agreed to your enrollment in the electric aggregation program, and to have your electric service with MC-Squared under the enclosed Terms and Conditions and the Uniform Disclosure Statement.  For information on the ComEd tariff rate, please visit www.pluginillinois.org, the Illinois Commerce Commission website for free consumer information. You may purchase electric supply from other Retail Electricity Suppliers or ComEd.  For a complete list of your options, visit pluginillinois.org.  You may request a list of all supply options available in a format allowing comparison of price and product from the Illinois Power Agency free of charge at illinois.gov/ipa/Pages/Feedback_Form.aspx.   

Please be advised you also have the option to purchase electricity supply from a Retail Electric Supplier (RES) or from ComEd pursuant to Section 16-103 of the Public Utilities Act. Information about your options can be found at Illinois Commerce Commission website: www.pluginillinois.org and www.ComEd.com. You may request from the Illinois Power Agency, without charge, a list of all supply options available to you in a format that allows comparison of prices and products.

Eligible residents and small businesses may join the program by contacting MC-Squared. New customers to the program will be subject to the same terms and conditions initially agreed upon by MC-Squared and the City of Evanston. The rate will be the same for residents that Opt-In after the initial term of the contract, matching ComEd's monthly price. Once a resident has contacted MC-Squared to Opt In to the program, you will receive a letter from ComEd confirming your enrollment. Contact MC-Squared by calling 855-697-0285 or emailing Evanston@mc2energyservices.com.

Program participants will continue to receive a bill from ComEd for their electricity service. Residents can determine if they’re participating in the City’s program by reviewing their ComEd bill and looking for an item on the bill under the “supply charge” section that reads, “Electric Supply Services - MC-Squared.” If your bill does not list this item, it’s likely that you are not a participant in the program. To view a sample ComEd invoice without aggregation, please visit ComEd’s website.

• Customers must have not opted out of the Program
• Customers must not be supplied generation service from another supplier
• Commercial customers must have a Peak Demand of <= 100Kw
• Residential customers must live within the City limits
• Customer must not be an "hourly rate" ComEd customer
• Customers must not be on ComEd's residential electric heat rate
• Customers must not be on ComEd's "bundled hold"

The program allows the City of Evanston to bundle together, or aggregate, residential and small commercial retail electric accounts and seek proposals for a cleaner source of power from electric suppliers in Illinois, other than ComEd. The electricity is still delivered by ComEd, which remains responsible for customer service, such as billing and outage response. Evanston has had an active aggregation program since 2012. In 2021, City Council approved changes to the program, see below.

Municipal aggregation allows the City to negotiate a long-term agreement for electricity for residential and small commercial customers in Evanston as well as determine the electricity source. Aggregation provides price stability and certainty for participants as well as allows the City to make progress on its commitment to climate action by sourcing electricity from renewable sources through the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). Aggregation can help the City meet its Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) goals.

No, the program has changed in a few ways. In 2021, City staff recommended to City Council that the City switch from a Fixed Price Aggregation Program to a ComEd Price Match Program (see below for explanations). The primary reasons for this change were because the fixed price programs were no longer able to guarantee Evanston residents a cost-savings compared to ComEd’s default rate. In this new program (ComEd Price Match), each account is evaluated by MC² to see if MC² can provide them with electric service cheaper than ComEd. If they can, then that customer is enrolled in the aggregation program and receives an Opt-out Letter. If MC² determines they cannot provide electric service to the customer for cheaper than ComEd then that customer is recommended to return to ComEd.

Even in this new program, any customer that wants to enroll in the program may, but for those that are recommended to return to ComEd they will have to affirmatively reach out to MC² to indicate they would like to participate.

No, Community Solar and Aggregation are two separate programs, however, they are both run by MC-Squared Energy Services. Both Community Solar and Aggregation support the City's climate action goals. If you want to participate in the Community Solar Program you should opt out of the Municipal Aggregation program.   In order to receive the full benefits of the Community Solar Program, your account will need to be served under ComEd’s Basic Electric Service (BES).  If your account is enrolled on the Municipal Aggregation Program and you enroll on the Community Solar Program, MC-Squared will drop your account back to ComEd’s Basic Electric Service (BES). More information on Evanston's Community Solar Program can be found by visiting www.cityofevanston.org/departments/city_managers_office/sustainability_resilience/energy/solar_in_evanston.php.

Yes. Historically, aggregation did not generate revenue for the City, but in this new program MC² will provide the City with a Civic Grant each year of the program. This funding will first be put towards buying renewable energy for program participants. Any remaining funds will be put towards implementing the City’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP).

If you were a net-metering customer in the Aggregation Program with Dynegy (Evanston’s previous Aggregation Supplier) you will have to end your agreement with Dynegy and return to ComEd. Net-metering customers are welcome to contact MC² and enroll in net-metering through MC², however, the City recommends that net-metering customers not enroll in the Aggregation Program. This is because every time a net-metering customer switches suppliers they are taking the risk of losing their net-metering credits. It is likely that once this 30-month agreement with MC² the City will sign a new agreement with a different supplier.

Yes, as a result of energy deregulation in Illinois, all consumers have the option to select an alternate retail electricity supplier.

The Illinois Commerce Commission approves the alternate retail electric suppliers that are allowed to supply electricity in Illinois. Information on electric supply choice can be found on the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Plug In Illinois website. There are several important questions that any customer should ask when considering selecting an energy supplier, including questions about the price, contract terms, enrollment process, billing process and customer service. The Citizens Utility Board (CUB), a consumer advocacy group, also provides resources related to consumer electricity choice.

Residential and small business customers that have already selected an alternate retail electricity supplier would not be included with the aggregation program and would remain part of the agreement they already signed. In addition, those customers on ComEd’s real-time pricing program will also not be able to participate in the aggregation program. Residential customers can participate in a real-time pricing program, which is another way to save money from the set rate but cannot be used in conjunction with aggregation.

1. The (New) ComEd Price Match Offer is a newer option, although there are roughly 40 municipalities in Illinois with this program structure. This structure allows the supplier to evaluate all eligible customers and enroll only the customers into aggregation that are able to be served at a cost savings compared to ComEd's Price-to-Compare. Because the City does not want to offer different supply rates to different customers, solely based on their cost to serve, the supplier charges all participants ComEd's Price-to-Compare as it fluctuates, with the necessary adjustments, over the term of the agreement (30 months). This means that both program participants and non-participants both are charged the same rate, meaning no one pays a premium or a savings in comparison to ComEd's Price-to-Compare. This option does, however, generate savings on the aggregate, which the supplier remits to the City in the form of an annual Civic Contribution which the City can put towards achieving its goals, such as buying renewable energy.

2. The (Old) Fixed Price Option is the standard option where the City solicits a fixed price for a given period of time (12-, 24-, or 36-months typically) for all program participants. In this option staff also ask for pricing for a standard energy mix and a 100% renewable energy mix. In the past 4 years this standard price has not guaranteed that residents have achieved a cost savings through participation. ComEd's default price (commonly referred to as the Price-to-Compare) has fluctuated such that sometimes residents receive a savings and sometimes they pay a premium for participating in the Electricity Aggregation Program.