RIVERBEND REGION – The Riverbend area communities have renewed their municipal electricity aggregation program with Homefield Energy.
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This program, which was previously approved by referendum by the voters in each community. These communities include the Village of Godfrey, Village of Bethalto, Village of Roxana, Village of South Roxana, Village of East Alton, Village of Hartford, City of Alton, and the City of Wood River.
The primary goal of these communities is to protect the residents from the continued volatility in electric supply rates as well as spikes in the energy market. The new rate for the Riverbend communities ranges from $0.1197 to $0.1207 per kWh and will be a fully fixed rate from June 2025 – May 2026. As expected, generation capacity for the region impacted the rate substantially and with capacity being a pass-through component of the supply, the expected capacity cost will have a similar impact on Ameren rates as well.
Residents should keep in mind, the rate shown on Ameren’s website as well as Plug in Illinois does not reflect the new capacity rates. Ameren’s rates are scheduled to change June 1, 2025 reflecting the new capacity rates.
The results of the Capacity Planning Resource Auction were made public on April 29, 2025 and showed while the region has adequate generation, the summer period has a much higher demand which results in higher cost to the consumers. The higher cost in capacity is a result of the inability to replace the generation lost due to recent coal burning generation plant closures along with the increased demand put on capacity by larger commercial users like AI Data centers. Unfortunately, renewable energy sources like wind and solar have not been able to replace the loss of generation and the new demands.
Again, this renewal program rate is an all-inclusive fixed supply rate and will not change during the 12-month term. Meanwhile, the Ameren utility rate can change throughout the period and is scheduled for additional changes throughout the same term period.
The aggregation program provides protection against potentially higher rates as well as stability during volatile periods. For most communities participating in the program since its inception in 2012, the program has had only 8 rate changes, compared to nearly 30 rate changes by the Utility.
Although this program is designed to protect our residents from the volatility in the energy market and provide insurance against large increases in rates as we experienced in 2021 and 2022, it also provides the ability to opt-out of the program at any time without penalty if the account holder desires. An opt-out letter will be mailed to all eligible residents within the communities starting in early May 2025.
If the account holder desires to continue participating in the program, they need do nothing with the opt-out notice and they will be automatically enrolled. If the account holder chooses not to participate in the program, there are several ways to do this. Simply return the postage paid opt-out notice by mail, call the Supplier Homefield Energy at 833-200-9834, or go to the website as referenced in the letter Homefieldenergy.com/optout.
If you want to opt-out of the program or have questions about the program, it’s important you do not call the government offices, they cannot opt-you out of the program. If you have any issues with opting out or have other questions pertaining to the aggregation program, you may also call Good Energy, who is the energy consultant that represents each of the communities; their support line is 844-686-4244.
Please keep in mind, if you previously opted out of the program and you receive an additional opt out notice this period, by Illinois law you must opt out again. Unlike Ameren requirements, all qualifying participants are required to be notified prior to each rate or term change and given the opportunity to opt out of the program.
Since residents can opt out of the program anytime without penalty or fees, Good Energy recommends residents wait until Ameren’s new rates are posted June 1, 2025.
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