Using funds from a civic contribution from the electricity aggregation program, the Village of Deerfield has offset the annual electricity consumption and resulting carbon generation of residential households and eligible small businesses by 29%.
The Village has completed its first year of a three-year electricity aggregation program with MC Squared Energy Services (MC2). The electricity aggregation program was approved by the Village Board on July 6, 2021 and the program commenced with the October/November 2021 ComEd Billing cycle. All eligible customers pay the same monthly electricity rate, regardless of whether or not you are selected by MC2 to participate in the program and all customers receive a bill directly from ComEd. In other words, the program is a ComEd price-match program and everyone pays the same utility rate.
Through this program, the Village is able to receive a $60,000 civic contribution and use those grant funds to benefit the entire community. Specifically, the grant funds were used to retire 23,530,000 kWh’s of Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”), which is equivalent to offsetting the annual electricity consumption for 29% of the residential households and eligible small business customers. Moreover, this equates to offsetting the annual electricity consumption for 9% of the entire community, when including residential, commercial and industrial sectors.
“I am pleased to see the Village take steps laid out in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ad Hoc Working Group’s Carbon Action Report that will help us reach our goal to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050,” said Deerfield Mayor Daniel C. Shapiro.
RECs represent the environmental attributes of electricity generated from renewable sources. The flexibility to purchase RECs enables customers to offset a percentage of their annual electricity with certificates generated elsewhere. In the Village’s case, the RECs were generated from a Midwest-based wind farm.
Due to the successful outcome of this program, the Village of Deerfield will be recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“US EPA”) as a Green Power Community.
According the US EPA, by retiring 23,530,000 kWh’s of RECs, the Village of Deerfield reduced the following carbon dioxide equivalents:
- 41,391,519 miles driven by an average gasoline powered passenger vehicle; or
- 18,449,704 pounds of coal burned; or
- 38,607 barrels of oil consumed; or
- 1,876,370 gallons of gasoline consumed; or
- 680,931 propane cylinders used for home barbecues; or
- 632,011 incandescent lamps switched to LEDs