[5:58] Oh, thank you.

[6:25] Good evening and welcome to the February 3rd, Naperville City Council meeting, roll call. Warley. Here. Gibson. Here. Holds our. Here. Jane. Here. Kelly. Here. McProom. Saiyan. Yep. White. Here. Wilson. Here. Please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance.

[7:11] Our first item in the agenda tonight is awards and recognitions. Councilman White will present the first proclamation for Black History Month.

[7:18] All

[7:36] right. Good evening everyone. Can I get the members from the Naperville

[7:40] Neighbors United to come on down?

[8:26] This is the office of the Mayor of City of

[8:27] Naperville Proclamation for Black History Month February 2026. Whereas Black

[8:34] History Month observed each February is a time to honor the rich history culture and

[8:40] contributions of black Americans who have played a pivotal role in shaping the

[8:45] fabric of our nation and local community.

[8:48] And whereas the study and celebration of black history

[8:52] are essential to understanding the enduring struggles,

[8:57] resilience and achievements that have marked the journey

[9:01] toward equity and justice in our society.

[9:05] And whereas the city of Naperville

[9:08] maintains within its mission statement

[9:10] a commitment to create an inclusive community

[9:13] that values diversity.

[9:16] And whereas recognizing Black History Month

[9:19] provides an opportunity not only to reflect on history,

[9:23] but also to recommit ourselves to the ongoing work

[9:27] of equity, inclusion, and mutual respect in Naperville.

[9:32] And whereas Naperville neighbors United

[9:34] exemplifies the spirit of unity and education

[9:38] by fostering dialogue, creating connections,

[9:41] and celebrating the diversity that enriches our community.

[9:46] And whereas through initiatives, events, and conversations,

[9:51] Naperville Neighbors United continues to inspire individuals to engage in meaningful learning

[9:56] and to act toward creating an inclusive environment for all residents.

[10:01] Now, therefore I, Scott Werley, mayor of Naperville, do hereby recognize

[10:06] Naperville Neighbors United for its unwavering commitment to fostering unity

[10:10] and inclusivity and proclaim February 2026 as Black History Month in the City of Naperville.

[10:18] And I encourage all residents to participate in this celebration to learn about Black History

[10:23] and Culture and to contribute to building a community that values and uplifts diversity.

[10:58] Good evening.

[10:59] My name is Sean Rule and I'm a senior at Wabonzi Valley High School.

[11:03] Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share what Black History Month means to me.

[11:08] Black History Month is more than a time to revisit historical moments or recognize well-known figures.

[11:14] To me, it represents a chance to acknowledge the depth and impact of Black contributors

[11:18] that have helped shape this country and continue to influence it today.

[11:24] Many of these contributors were made in times where recognition was very limited.

[11:29] Yet their effects remain present in our culture and everyday lives.

[11:34] Black History Month also highlights the importance of understanding history as a shared experience.

[11:39] Black history is not separate from American history is an essential part of it.

[11:44] From advancements in art and music to leadership and science, education, sports, and social

[11:49] progress, Black individuals have put a crucial role in shaping the world around us.

[11:55] Recognizing these contributors allows us to gain a more complete and accurate understanding

[11:59] of our collective past.

[12:01] Black history month also encourages reflection.

[12:04] It challenges us to look beyond what we already know and to engage with perspectives that may have not always been centered.

[12:10] Through learning and discussion, we are reminded that progress is built over time and that awareness is a key step toward understanding and respect.

[12:19] For me, Black History Month represents recognition, reflection, and continued learning.

[12:25] It is meaningful, it is a meaningful opportunity, is an meaningful opportunity to honor the past while thoughtfully engaging with the present.

[12:33] Thank you for your time.

[12:34] Have a good night.

[12:44] Black history is American history.

[12:47] That is a fact.

[12:48] It is not separate.

[12:50] It is not supplemental.

[12:52] And it is foundational to who we are as a nation.

[12:56] Black history tells the story of perseverance

[12:58] and the face of injustice.

[13:00] Leadership forged through adversity and progress

[13:03] driven by faith and courage.

[13:05] It reflects both the challenges that were faced

[13:08] in the growth that followed.

[13:09] This February marks the 100-year anniversary of Black History Month, a moment to reflect

[13:16] and to reminder that celebrating and uplifting these stories remain important today.

[13:23] I'd like to take a moment to share one of these stories and recognize someone who is here

[13:28] with us this evening, Naperville, resident, Lewis Freeman.

[13:32] Mr. Freeman.

[13:35] Mr. Freeman spent 36 years with Southwest Airlines becoming the first black pilot in 1980.

[13:44] And in 1992, he became the first black chief pilot of any airline.

[13:50] And to be clear, Mr. Freeman wasn't chosen because he was black.

[13:55] He was chosen because he was the best.

[13:59] I've been grateful to hear his story shared.

[14:01] And one moment that always stands out to me is when he was selected to fly Rosa Parks,

[14:08] a pioneer of the civil rights movement to her final resting place.

[14:13] A reflection of the respect he earned through excellence and leadership.

[14:19] At a time when history and lived experiences are being questioned or overlooked,

[14:25] moments like these remind us my black history matters.

[14:28] And why these stories must continue to be shared and remembered, we cannot go

[14:36] backward only forward. The story of America is still being written. What will the

[14:43] chapters ahead say about who we choose to be? Thank you.

[15:50] Mr. Schatz, we have one speaker signed up for comment on. Yes, we have one speaker signed up, Regina

[15:57] Brent.

[16:34] Good evening, everyone.

[16:37] I just want to bring you a little black history note for this month.

[16:41] From the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a statement on the removal of exhibits at the

[16:47] president's house site. And this is being read tonight because I want to let Mayor Whirlie know

[16:56] that we appreciate his courage and his continued support and that we appreciate

[17:02] Benny and the rest of the council for all of their courage and loyalty to continue to recognize

[17:09] African-American contributions that we've given to not only

[17:15] Naperville but DuPage County as a whole. On Thursday, January 22, the

[17:22] exhibit, the dirty business of slavery related interpretive panels were

[17:26] removed from the president's house, cited Independence National Park in Philadelphia

[17:31] Pennsylvania. We write to express our profound sorrow, righteous anger and deep

[17:38] alarm that this assault on the history of the United States and on the history of Christianity in

[17:44] this land. This act does not restore truth, but attempts to sanitize it, precisely targeting

[17:51] those narratives that name slavery, white supremacy and black resistance as central to American

[17:57] story. As formerly enslaved persons, Bishop Allen and Father Jones organized a free African society

[18:04] and 1780 for economic, spiritual, and social support.

[18:09] The true insanity is the belief that tearing down signs

[18:13] can alter the truth of this nation's tortured past

[18:16] or erase the fact that many of the so-called founding fathers

[18:20] held human beings in bondage while proclaiming liberty.

[18:24] Removing these panels does not heal our division.

[18:27] It deepens unheal wounds,

[18:29] obscures the sin of slavery and it is ongoing legacy.

[18:32] We name the pain and outrage these actions caused to people of Philadelphia and to the

[18:38] communities across the country.

[18:40] Bishop Allen said before his death that the lamp which we have watered with our tears

[18:52] and our blood is now our mother country and we are well satisfied to stay where wisdom

[18:58] abounds and the gospel is free.

[19:00] a testimony that indicts any effort to make freedom's story smaller, wider or less truthful.

[19:08] And so, Mayor Whirly, while these things are painful to our community, you have healed

[19:16] our hearts tonight.

[19:18] We're presenting us with such a proclamation.

[19:20] We thank you.

[19:21] God bless you.

[19:32] Next I will present the proclamation for 203-day, Superintendent Bridges and students.

[19:38] and I think we've got some of the mayor's office interns.

[19:44] Please join me at the front dies or at the front podium.

[20:09] Well, if you haven't figured it out, today's February 3rd,

[20:15] 203 day.

[20:18] That's the superintendent bridges of district 203.

[20:22] And then we have three of our mayor's office interns

[20:25] with us here today who are serving from different high schools

[20:28] to accompany him for this presentation in the proclamation.

[20:33] And it reads,

[20:35] Naperville Community Unit School District 203-203-D,

[20:38] whereas February 3rd, 2026 marks the celebration of 203-D

[20:43] for the Naperville 203 community.

[20:46] And whereas Naperville Community Unit School District 203 seeks to honor the achievements

[20:51] and the contributions of its students, staff, and community on February 3rd, 203.

[20:57] as a time to reflect on and celebrate collective success.

[21:01] And whereas this special day is dedicated to gratitude,

[21:06] giving and celebrating the teachers, the staff, the students, parents,

[21:09] volunteers, schools, community members, businesses, past, present, and future,

[21:14] all of those who work together to make Naperville 203 an exemplary school district.

[21:20] And whereas students and staff will use the 203-day celebration as an opportunity

[21:26] to share in model acts of kindness and service throughout schools and the broader community.

[21:33] Strengthening those connections and spreading positivity.

[21:36] And whereas Naperville Community Unit School District 203 annually commemorates 203 day

[21:42] by engaging the community and empowering students to develop a learner's mindset, demonstrate

[21:47] adaptability, communicate effectively, think critically and grow as global citizens.

[21:52] And whereas Naperville 203 remains committed to upholding the dignity and uniqueness of every individual fostering responsible citizenship and demonstrating the excellence that has achieved through the collective efforts of students, staff, parents, and the broader community.

[22:10] Now, therefore, I, Scott Whirley, mayor of the City of Naperville, who hereby proclaim February 3rd, 2026, as 203-day in the City of Naperville.

[22:21] Congratulations.

[22:51] Just be very brief.

[22:53] First of all, thank you, mayor.

[22:54] Thank you, members of the council for this recognition on 203-day.

[22:58] Thanks to our all-hon, Rihanna and Abigail for joining me up here this evening.

[23:02] In 2022, Naperville 203 celebrated its 50th anniversary as a consolidated unit school district.

[23:09] in the city of Naperville, and there's an offshoot of that in collaboration with the

[23:13] National Education Foundation.

[23:14] We look for ways to be able to thank the community, both local and global, for the support

[23:20] of public education, and specifically, Naperville 203 within our community.

[23:24] So 203 day is celebrated in the second month, in the third day of every year now, and is dedicated

[23:30] to gratitude, kindness, and service across the Naperville 203 community.

[23:34] So members of our student body today took a moment throughout the day to pause and express various levels of gratitude

[23:41] Whether it be thank yous to bus drivers valentines day cards to service members or other expressions of gratitude for people throughout our global community

[23:49] So I appreciate the recognition and support of our district and then as I think about my 14th year here at superintendent in this school district

[23:57] I'm grateful for the support of the community throughout. Thank you very much

[24:30] Next on the agenda is public forum, I'd like to remind everyone of the citizen participation rules in the city's municipal code for speaking at city council meetings.

[24:39] Speakers are asked to present their comments in a respectful and courteous manner.

[24:43] Speakers should be on topic, stay on topic, and be cognizant of their words.

[24:48] Personal attacks on council members, staff, other speakers, or members of the audience are not allowed.

[24:53] If inappropriate language or comments are expressed during this meeting, you will be asked immediately to stop commenting.

[24:59] Also, for audience members, there is no cheering and no cheering.

[25:03] Actions such as applauding, cheering, booing, or any other noises during or at the conclusion

[25:08] of any remarks made by any speaker are not allowed.

[25:11] If this occurs, you will be asked to stop immediately.

[25:14] And if it continues to persist, I will recess the meeting until the audience abides by the rules in our city code.

[25:20] No speakers should ever feel intimidated by the crowd.

[25:23] Audience disruption is meant to intimidate those speaking and I will not allow it in this chamber.

[25:27] audience members with signs and signs must not block any other audience members view.

[25:32] Speakers are given three minutes to address the city council and to help speakers stay within the three minute time frame.

[25:37] We have a timer located on the side dius to your right.

[25:41] It will give the visual cue when the three minutes are expiring.

[25:44] This helps speakers conclude their comments in a timely manner without being cut off.

[25:48] The timer will buzz when it hits zero and we will alert the speaker that their time is up.

[25:52] If a speaker's name is called and they are not in the room,

[25:55] We will move on to the next speaker and we will not go back.

[25:59] Speakers are encouraged to remain in the council chambers until the conclusion of public forum in the event council members want to ask follow-up questions.

[26:08] And tonight we have lots of speakers for different topics, as well as our public forum at the beginning of the meeting.

[26:14] We have this roped-off section right here in the front row.

[26:17] Mr. Schatz is going to call groups of speakers, and as those groups are called, we want you to come up to the front row so you're already in set for the podium.

[26:26] Mr. Schatz please call the speakers.

[26:29] The first two speakers in public form are Tim Faredo and Richard Stark.

[26:52] Hello, my name is Tim Faredo. I'm the neighborhood resident.

[26:55] I'm here to talk about area missions. There was a live conversation two weeks ago during the city council meeting about area missions.

[27:02] And I thought I could add some clarity.

[27:05] I worked in the energy industry for 30 years, had it dealt with air emission regulations

[27:09] a lot.

[27:11] So, in 1990, the amendment to Clean Air Act was enacted to regulate and reduce criteria

[27:20] pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, and it was regulated

[27:26] to a demand mislevel. That was a whole plan to get to a low level or it doesn't harm the environment.

[27:34] This is done for both stationary and mobile sources.

[27:38] So with this meant for diesel generators themselves, the EPA created a pathway based on tear levels.

[27:43] And that's why I'm showing on this diagram here in the chart.

[27:47] The vertical axis is PMs, the horizontal axis is NOx.

[27:52] As you can see, as each tier level got more and more, as we went from tier 1 to tier 4 final,

[27:59] there was a huge reduction in those emissions.

[28:04] So after billions of dollars spent by the industries, they were able to achieve a 98% reduction

[28:10] in these pollutants from 1990 levels.

[28:14] It's a huge accomplishment, and I think something that's overlooked a lot.

[28:18] They did this by reformulating fuel, engine design, adding catalyst systems, and also adding filtration systems.

[28:29] So this is not only with generators, but with cars, buses, school buses, trucks, all the modern transportation vehicles have seen a 98% reduction since 1990 levels.

[28:42] Next,

[28:46] I want to talk about the diesel generators for the carousel data center.

[28:51] I'm not here to resurrect the data center, but when you look at that design, there's 24 diesel

[28:59] generators.

[29:00] If you do the math, the exercising events that would occur throughout the year will only

[29:05] occupy 1.5% of the time if they hit their max 10 hours, only 1.5% of the time.

[29:13] So now I'm going to focus on PM 2.5 emissions, because I think it's really shows him how impressive

[29:19] these machines are.

[29:21] So if you go down to a lower box, you'll see PM 2.5 emissions for a generator is about

[29:26] 15 grams, for one log fire is about the same, 17, but it gets even more interesting, because

[29:36] Because with the diesel generators, they can symbolize error and they put out a live exhaust, which is inert.

[29:43] It's nitrogen, steam, and carbon dioxide.

[29:47] So the concentration of PMs is very, very long compared to a log fire.

[29:53] That's it.

[29:54] Thank you.

[29:57] The next speakers are Richard Stark.

[30:00] followed by Dan Georgievich, followed by Swati Dale.

[30:14] Hi, my name is Richard Stark, and I've been a resident of Naperville for six and a half years. Now, all of you know me as the leader of the modeling team, but that's not why I'm here tonight. I'm here tonight in the role of strategy to offer a simple but meaningful recommendation. And my recommendation is that the city council begin in the new business tonight.

[30:39] to the process of assigning Brian growth the responsibility of developing a long-term electricity strategy.

[30:49] This is the moment to answer the fundamental question, what are we trying to achieve and to establish a framework that will guide

[30:57] and they prevail forward towards these objectives.

[31:00] to support for Brian in this work, several of us with deep strategy experience have formed a small advisory group.

[31:09] My own background includes more than 15 years of developing, implementing, analyzing, and refining strategies as a senior director of strategy and a vice president of corporate development.

[31:22] My partner in this, Mike Milano, is a retired Army Major General and retired executive from Target.

[31:30] He has significant strategy expertise from his service as Director of Strategy on the joint staff in the Pentagon,

[31:38] where he was responsible for developing the U.S. National Military Strategy.

[31:43] He is also author of the book, Large and Encharge, which is about leadership.

[31:48] We look forward to the City Council providing the strategic guidance needed in this area.

[31:55] Thank you for your time.

[31:57] Thank you.

[31:58] Next speaker.

[31:59] The next speaker is Dan Jergevik, followed by Swati Dale.

[32:04] Good evening, everybody.

[32:06] I'll stay well under my three minutes here.

[32:08] Dan Jergevik, I'm a lifelong resident, I'm a local home builder, and I'm here.

[32:13] Tonight speaking on behalf of Northern Illinois Home Builders Association of which I'm a past

[32:17] President and specifically the Housing Advocacy Committee of which I'm a member coming to make

[32:24] a few remarks tonight about the consideration of building stretch codes in addition to the recent

[32:29] code update cycle that we went through to get on the ICC 2024. I want to let everybody know that the

[32:36] Northern Illinois Home Builders Association opposes consideration of the stretch code for a variety of

[32:42] reasons, the majority of which have to do with the cost prohibitive nature of any benefit that this code would end up providing.

[32:52] A group of my colleagues and I came to a building review board meeting in October, and we're able to listen to a stretch code presentation.

[32:59] It was suggested during that presentation that a typical cost increase on a house would be around $3,000.

[33:06] My colleagues and I have done actual analysis on real projects with actual energy

[33:11] raters and our findings are quite different, tens of thousands of dollars with very negligible

[33:17] energy savings and return.

[33:19] We hope to introduce the home housing advocacy committee tonight as a resource to both the

[33:26] city staff as they continue consideration of the stretch codes.

[33:30] We'd like to be a resource to city staff.

[33:32] We also seek an audience with City Council members for any meetings or input that we can

[33:37] provide to try to give you guys the best information possible as you're making these very important

[33:40] decisions for our community and our residents.

[33:44] As I stand before you, I can tell you that my experience is a home builder for over 20 years.

[33:50] Most recently the thing that we see most is an affordability issue, specifically in our

[33:54] community for attaining housing in Naperville.

[33:57] The stretch code doesn't do any favors in terms of improving the affordability issue that we already have, and we look forward to being a part of the process going forward for the consideration of this stretch code implementation. Thank you.

[34:13] Thank you, next speaker.

[34:16] The final speaker in public forum is Swadi Dale.

[34:31] Respected Mayor Sir, City Council and community members.

[34:35] I, Swadi Dale, a resident of Furnick River for almost four years now, would like to begin.

[34:41] By thanking you all for giving me the opportunity to speak today.

[34:45] With 20 plus years of experience spanning multiple industries, I'm known to be a global

[34:51] marketing strategist and entrepreneur, a business leader, and a lifelong learner.

[34:57] But today, it's all about education. As we all know, today,

[35:03] 203 seeks to honour the achievements and contributions of its students,

[35:08] staff, teachers, parents, and community that make 203 and exemplary

[35:15] I'd like to share my views around how technology and educators can come together to empower

[35:23] learning.

[35:24] I understand and fully respect that the district is a-

[41:07] I'm also eager to see if performance methodology is going to be considered for this proposed

[41:12] stretch code.

[41:13] I've heard that only a prescriptive methodology would be allowed.

[41:17] So in that case, you're being given an arbitrary set of things to follow without having any

[41:22] any actual measurement to see how effectively the house is performing from a building tightness from an energy consumption.

[41:28] So we could definitely take that back to the committee.

[41:30] Yeah, and I really appreciate that.

[41:33] Kind of where I'm going with that is a lot of times in life as an 80, 20 rule.

[41:39] And if it's like, hey, you could get 80% of the improvement with much less costs.

[41:46] And then that last 20%, maybe there's a couple items in there that are just,

[41:49] just really cost prohibitive and aren't delivering much value.

[41:54] One of the benefits we have being Naperville is we have such a good professional staff.

[41:58] We have professionals in the community who like yourself who can sit down around a table

[42:04] and write some of these rules where maybe a smaller community may not have the resources

[42:09] to do that.

[42:11] I'm just throwing it out there.

[42:12] I don't see myself saying like just no carte blanche, I'm not going to do any kind of revision

[42:17] of the code.

[42:18] but if there's like a reasonable set of changes that could be made that wouldn't

[42:23] be as onerous, like I'm very open to that already. I'll just put in that out there.

[42:27] Right. I think that's a great suggestion.

[42:29] Yep. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Councilwoman Gibson.

[42:34] Thank you, Mayor. At the end of last year, Council directed staff to take a look at

[42:41] muffler, aftermarket muffler upgrades and window tinting and whether these things

[42:46] are being sold in the city and if there was anything in the city can do I know it's been a complaint

[42:50] of you know people downtown downtown businesses and it seems like a way we can address the

[42:55] root of the problem rather than just counting on our police enforcement and I was wondering if we could

[42:59] get an update from yeah. Mr. DeSanto, I'll take that. Sure Mayor, thank you Councilwoman we did

[43:07] look into it we determined that the Illinois vehicle code likely already handles this there's a provision

[43:11] in the code which says that no person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle

[43:16] in a manner that will amplify or increase the noise of such a vehicle and so we've been

[43:21] working with the police department to develop strategies and make sure that that is being

[43:25] enforced. Similarly, we also identified some provisions in the vehicle code which may

[43:29] make it difficult for us to as a city council to modify that provision as it's already in

[43:34] the law.

[43:36] Okay. Thank you. Sorry just to clarify. So this is something that we couldn't force to prohibit

[43:42] the sale. We wouldn't have to put on some new ordinance. It's already correct and be done.

[43:47] All right. Thank you.

[43:50] Councilman Wilson. Thank you, Mayor. Dan. Sorry. I tried to get you

[43:54] to stay ahead a couple more questions. We're

[44:04] sending the ably councilman. How close are the

[44:07] for him while he comes down.

[44:10] I'll just stay up front for the rest of the night here.

[44:14] Quick question, so who was the original, originally estimated that it would cost like

[44:20] a few thousand dollars for the changes?

[44:22] You know Nate, I was looking back at the agenda for the October 15th Building Review Board

[44:28] to, there was an organization that made a presentation that day I, you know, the few moments I had to

[44:34] get home from work and get ready to income here did not find that but it was a presentation

[44:38] that was formally made at the BRB meeting on October 15th.

[44:43] Yeah, okay.

[44:43] This organization, they're not, didn't seem like they're builders though, I don't believe

[44:48] so.

[44:48] Yeah, okay.

[44:50] And then have you given the increased costs of doing these things, have you run across

[45:00] Anyone that will go, hey, I know it will cost more to do this, but I'll tell you what, I'll subsidize the cost. Say if it's, you know, has anyone gone to say, hey, even if it's $20,000, I'll take that out of my pocket, give it to the builder and get these bill. So I personally have not, but you candidly, I'm a very small builder business. I do about 10 homes a year. That's part of the thought process, I suppose, as I would imagine there are certain people that would be happy to make that investment that we've choose to build to this stretch code. And I believe that that is their God-given right now.

[45:29] to do so and that's wonderful. I don't think that it should be made mandatory as a building

[45:35] code for Naperville or any community for that matter if it doesn't provide any real

[45:40] benefit, any real savings or benefit to what it's intending to do. And I think we have the

[45:45] data to support that claim.

[45:47] But that's mine. I haven't heard from anyone willing to put that out there either, but thanks

[45:53] Dan.

[45:54] Yeah.

[45:54] Anybody else?

[45:58] I think you're good.

[45:59] No, no, no.

[46:00] Oh, he's got one more?

[46:02] Councilman McRome.

[46:05] You had your chance.

[46:07] Thank you for the hook after this.

[46:09] Thank you, Mayor.

[46:09] Just kind of almost same lines as Councilman Wilson just to clarify.

[46:15] Anyone that wanted to implement these stretch codes on your custom home builder.

[46:20] Yes.

[46:21] Anyone that wanted to do this, there's nothing stopping them.

[46:23] Absolutely.

[46:24] Okay.

[46:24] It supersedes minimum code compliance.

[46:26] And so if somebody chose to put more insulation in their attic walls,

[46:31] do advance framing, whatever they wanted to do to be more energy efficient installs solar panels in their home,

[46:36] whatever they want to do, I've done a number of solar systems and a number of geothermal systems.

[46:41] I have clients that are passionate about certain things and environmental sensibility is certainly high on everybody's priority list.

[46:48] I think what you'll find, though, is when you look at the cost versus the savings,

[46:51] and if you want to get granular on what's the carbon footprint of a dollar, of $10,000.

[46:57] What does it look like when you have a negative rate of return on the investment for

[47:01] something and you're having to earn that additional income each year to pay for

[47:05] the 30-year mortgage on your home?

[47:07] There's environmental impact to all these things.

[47:10] I think that the way that we've seen the code updates happen since I've been a professional in the late 1990s,

[47:16] till now, is going from like the stone age to the space age.

[47:20] We've reached that point of diminishing returns in any suggestion that we can make things better by increasing our value.

[47:27] I think we're finally getting that point where there's a negative return on that.

[47:31] Okay, perfect.

[47:32] And as far as the cost question, I don't know who you heard, that number, the couple thousand, I know where I heard it, we have a task force here and that's at least where I heard it.

[47:45] It was two or $3,000 is the cost to increase costs that they would get back in energy savings.

[47:52] But you build houses and you disagree with that number.

[47:55] Are they close on the number or do you think?

[47:57] No, I mean, we presented at the October BRB meeting and

[48:02] there were about a half a dozen all local builders, mostly Naperville builders,

[48:08] that took homes that they're currently building.

[48:11] And had their energy rate or do a real analysis on the things that they would have to do to meet the stretch code and what the associated cost would be and I'm just going down a chart right here was 21,000, 42,000,

[48:24] and $31,000, $24,000, $30,000, $39,000.

[48:28] And you get down to the end of the spreadsheet

[48:32] where you've got your calculated yearly energy savings

[48:35] and it's $98, $349, $143, $200, $300, $308.

[48:41] So you're talking about tens of thousands of dollars

[48:42] up front for annual savings that are $100, $200, $300

[48:47] at order of magnitude.

[48:49] All right, thanks.

[48:50] You're off the hook.

[48:52] Okay.

[48:52] Any

[48:56] other council members for public forum?

[48:59] Okay, our next item is the consent agenda.

[49:01] We have a motion to use the omnibus method to approve the consent agenda.

[49:04] Councilman White.

[49:06] Mayor moved to use the omnibus method to approve the consent agenda.

[49:09] Councilman Kelly.

[49:09] Second.

[49:10] We have a motion in a second to use the omnibus method to approve the consent agenda.

[49:14] All those in favor sign eye?

[49:16] Opposed?

[49:17] Motion passes.

[49:18] 9-0.

[49:20] We have a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[49:23] Councilman White.

[49:23] A move to approve the consent agenda removing item I 11.

[49:28] Mr. Kelly?

[49:30] Second Kelly.

[49:31] All right.

[49:32] We have a motion.

[49:33] A second.

[49:33] Mr. Schatz, please read the consent agenda removing I 11.

[49:37] A position of support on I 12 was submitted and posted to the city website.

[49:43] Approval of the January 20th, 2026 regular city council meeting minutes.

[49:47] Approval of the city council meeting schedule for February, March and April, 2026.

[49:51] approval of the award of change or number two to option your number two of the

[49:55] contract for consulting engineering services for soils and material

[49:58] testing to national soil testing for an amount not to exceed $144,776.31

[50:06] approval of the award of change or number two to the contractor fire engine

[50:10] replacement and maintenance agreement to McQueen equipment LLC for an

[50:14] amount not to exceed $20,000 approval of the award of the option of change

[50:18] number one to the work order for 248 Avenue face to engineering to

[50:23] civil tech engineering for about not to exceed 74,239 and 74 cents approval

[50:30] of the award of change or number one to the contract for fairway and

[50:33] country lakes water main improvements to blue water construction LLC for

[50:37] an amount not to exceed 117,422 dollars and 19 cents and for 61 additional days

[50:44] approval of the award of change or number one to the work order for

[50:47] construction engineering services, fairway and country lakes water main

[50:50] improvements to Crawford Murphy and Tilly for about not to exceed $11,600

[50:54] for an additional 242 calendar days. Proof of the award of change

[50:59] during number one to the contract for 2025. Southeast Waterworks

[51:03] Generator replacement to William T. Connolly, DBA Connolly Electric

[51:07] for an additional 99 days. Proof of the award of change during number

[51:11] one to the contract for Northwest Waterworks improvements phase two to

[51:14] day mechanical industries for an additional one hundred and twenty four days.

[51:18] Approval and appointment to the transportation advisory board.

[51:21] Waving the first reading and passing the ordinance amending section two dash sixteen

[51:25] dash two of the neighborhood municipal code to add a non voting member of the

[51:29] accessible community task force to the advisory commission on disabilities and

[51:33] waving the first reading and passing the ordinance amending section one dash nine

[51:37] dash G the neighborhood municipal code regarding the nine one one system search

[51:41] charge. We have a motion in a second on the consent agenda removing I 11 roll call.

[51:47] Worley. Yes. Gibson. Aye. Holds our. Aye. Jane. Aye. Kelly. Aye. Miproon. Aye. Sian. Aye.

[51:55] White. Aye. Wilson. Aye. Aye. Aye 11. Item I 11 is a recommendation to conduct the first reading

[52:03] of an ordinance amending chapter one building codes of Title V building regulations of the

[52:07] and Naperville Municipal Code adopting the 2024

[52:10] International Code Council set of codes,

[52:12] including proposed local amendments.

[52:14] There are two speakers, court airheart and Chad Mies.

[52:34] Good evening, my name is court airheart.

[52:37] President of airheart construction,

[52:38] I'm a second generation home builder.

[52:40] I'm an SOB, a son of a builder.

[52:43] This is our 60 second year building homes

[52:47] throughout Naperville and greater DuPage in Cain County.

[52:50] I also happen to be a past president

[52:52] I'm Northern Illinois Home Builders Association and I'm the current chairman of the Housing Advocacy Committee and we represent over 250 building professionals and we're involved in well over 1.1 billion dollars in residential home construction and remodeling.

[53:11] I know the building code adoption is tonight first read but I wanted to bring up the energy stretch code that Dan also talked about earlier.

[53:19] I do want to say one thing, the current energy code is extremely stringent, it's extremely

[53:29] solid, it is extremely energy efficient, homes built today under the current code are 50%

[53:36] more efficient than homes that were built in 1975. And this is from the Department of Energy

[53:43] Website. I think there's a little confusion regarding the cost to meet the energy stretch

[53:48] and Stan mentioned, we had a number of builders who actually bid out a existing home that they built.

[53:56] We built our Oakfield model, which is a 9,1,915 square foot ranch, two bedroom full basement.

[54:04] Met with our energy raider to review the stretch code.

[54:08] Under the prescriptive message, we would need to make insulation changes, we would need to make framing method changes.

[54:15] We need to add frame and materials, our exterior cladding would increase due to taller structures to meet attic insulation requirements.

[54:24] We would have electric enhancements in preparation for future changes.

[54:28] The cost for these changes, I was the low man that Dan was talking about, I was $21,612.86.

[54:36] This is an increase of $11.29 per foot.

[54:40] This is a price increase on the house of over 5%.

[54:45] The annual energy saving in dollars for that is $98.

[54:51] This is a low return for the significant investment and simply not warranted.

[54:57] It's a classic case of diminishing returns.

[55:00] We already build extremely energy efficient homes and

[55:04] that's why this kind of cost does not add return.

[55:10] Stretch code is an option under the current code.

[55:13] somebody can build that if they want to, and they certainly can, it should not be the energy code for

[55:19] Naperville. Please do not implement the energy stretch code. We at Northern Illinois Home Builder's

[55:25] Association and the House and Advocacy Committee would love to be a part of any future discussions

[55:30] with staff and implementation. We have four other builders who've actually priced out the stretch

[55:35] code and the cost. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Next speaker.

[55:40] The second and final speaker on this item is Chad Mies.

[55:44] Yeah, I'm going to just call Dan up and haven't speak for me when I might as well.

[55:50] My name is Chad Mies, I'm a lifelong Naperville resident and business owner in Naperville.

[55:55] I own Red Star construction and we've been building in Naperville for over 20 years.

[56:00] I'm also the vice president of the Northern Illinois Home Builder Association and

[56:04] a member of the Housing Advocacy Committee.

[56:06] I'm a certified graduate builder and remodeler through the National Home Builder Association.

[56:11] And I'm here tonight to speak on the concerns about the conversations and cost concerning the adoption of Illinois stretch code.

[56:18] First, I want to make it clear, like my colleagues, we support energy efficiency.

[56:22] Everyone wants lower utility bills, better buildings, affordable housing, responsible construction, which we feel we do already.

[56:30] Nihba and housing advocacy committee are here as a resource for

[56:36] Naperville, the building review board, the council, and anybody that would like to be

[56:41] educated and we can provide support in that.

[56:44] With that said, the reality of the stretch code is that it does increase up front cost of

[56:50] building.

[56:50] It adds requirements that often mean higher price materials, as my colleagues have spoken to.

[56:56] to more expensive mechanical systems, additional design, testing, paperwork.

[57:01] Those costs don't disappear, they get passed on to the taxpayers, the homeowners,

[57:06] the renters, and the small business owners in our community.

[57:09] At a time when affordability is already a major concern, the stretch code will make it harder to build remodeled affordable housing.

[57:17] Some developments that are barely feasible today won't move forward at all.

[57:20] That means fewer new homes, fewer improvements to existing homes and higher prices for everyone.

[57:26] It also adds complexity for contractors, local plan reviewers and inspectors.

[57:31] Does Naperville have the staffing, training, and resources to enforce these requirements consistently?

[57:36] The building community already deals with additional cost, permit delays, and

[57:40] confusion within the local building departments resulting in costly redesigns and change orders.

[57:46] My colleagues have been meeting with the building department on those issues.

[57:50] This has a huge impact on our residences, the small builders and local businesses like mine who can't absorb those impacts.

[57:58] Another concern is that the payback isn't guaranteed.

[58:01] What is guaranteed are higher costs for all.

[58:03] The models assume perfect conditions, but real world performance varies.

[58:08] What we do know is that costs are immediate and

[58:12] certain while savings can take years, more years, the most families will stay in their home.

[58:17] many families and business can't afford to take that kind of trade off.

[58:23] If the goal is to improve energy efficiency, there are better options.

[58:26] incentives, rebates, voluntary programs, and phased improvements that encourage progress.

[58:32] Without making housing and construction more expensive overnight.

[58:36] So again, I support smart energy solutions, but

[58:39] let's protect affordability, keep projects moving, pursue practical improvements that work for

[58:45] our community implementation of the Illinois stretch code does not do any of these things.

[58:50] Thanks for your time.

[58:53] Thank you, Councilman Oliver. Thank you, Mayor.

[58:57] You know, just while I was listening to the speakers, I just did a little bit of research on my own

[59:02] and, and of course, like I want to sit down and think about this longer, but one thing I noticed

[59:08] is the state of Illinois had a national laboratory, so this is a federal agency, it's not an advocacy

[59:15] But they had the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory do an analysis on the cost of the stretch code. It's kind of interesting because the cost they came up with was higher than what

[59:28] the, I guess the $2,000 number or whatever was cited but also considerably lower than some of the figures that were cited by Dan earlier.

[59:36] So I for one would just kind of like to learn more about this and again what the cost benefit of some of these things is.

[59:46] Yeah, I mean, on the just looking at this report and again, I'm not a long time to look at it, but it seems to me like some of the lower hanging fruit easier things on here.

[1:00:00] May not be anywhere close to the cost that we're being cited. Maybe some of the more expensive parts of it, you know, the negative return that you're talking about, Dan could absolutely be there. But all that to say, you know, I think it merits a look from an unbiased source. Thank you, Mayor.

[1:00:17] Councilor Wilson.

[1:00:19] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:00:20] Court had a question for you.

[1:00:23] And, Chad, I guess, too.

[1:00:25] If you guys both want to come back,

[1:00:33] Dan only answered for himself.

[1:00:35] So I guess I'll ask you guys as well,

[1:00:39] given the cost that you presented here,

[1:00:41] Court, for $20,000 of increase.

[1:00:45] Have you come across many people

[1:00:46] that similarly would go,

[1:00:49] hey, I'll subsidize the cost

[1:00:50] and give it over to the builder?

[1:00:52] No.

[1:00:53] No.

[1:00:53] Chad of you?

[1:00:54] No.

[1:00:55] Okay.

[1:00:56] That's interesting.

[1:00:57] And like you guys said, this would increase the price by forcibly, forcibly enforcing an

[1:01:05] artificial number, I guess you could say, on the market.

[1:01:13] And effectively, would you also agree by doing that, it would bid up other homes that you

[1:01:19] aren't building because you've increased the price that you have to build that?

[1:01:23] Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

[1:01:26] Thank you, guys.

[1:01:35] Okay. This was the first reading tonight.

[1:01:37] This will come back at our February 17th City Council meeting.

[1:01:42] And it will be an agenda item there.

[1:01:44] So there's no council action to be taken tonight on item I 11.

[1:01:54] Item J1.

[1:01:56] Item J1 is to conduct the public hearing for the Community Development Black Grant Program.

[1:02:01] from your 2026 annual action plan.

[1:02:04] Public hearing on the Community Development Block Grant Program

[1:02:07] for your 2026 annual action plan is now open.

[1:02:11] Anyone who wishes to speak may come forward.

[1:02:18] Georgia Vicks not coming forward.

[1:02:20] All right.

[1:02:20] Councilman White may have a motion to close the public hearing.

[1:02:23] I move to close the public hearing.

[1:02:25] Councilman Kelly?

[1:02:26] Second Kelly.

[1:02:27] All those in favor?

[1:02:28] Aye and aye.

[1:02:30] Opposed?

[1:02:31] Motion carries.

[1:02:32] The public hearing is now closed.

[1:02:34] Item 01 is a recommendation to approve the committee development block grant program year 2026 annual action plan allocating $535,000.

[1:02:45] Councilman White.

[1:02:46] Mayor moved to approve the community development block grant program year 2026 annual action plan allocating $535,000.

[1:02:56] Councilman Kelly?

[1:02:57] Second Kelly.

[1:02:58] We have a motion and second.

[1:02:59] I'm on one roll call Gibson. I

[1:03:04] I call sour. I Jane I Kelly I

[1:03:07] I make room I say it I wait I will

[1:03:10] send I worry yes item

[1:03:16] O2 item O2 is

[1:03:18] recommendation to consider whether to

[1:03:20] direct staff to discontinue for the

[1:03:22] time being negotiations for a

[1:03:24] successor power sales agreement with

[1:03:26] the Illinois municipal electric agency

[1:03:29] the IMEA. To the website, we were at what has been posted to the website was 36 positions

[1:03:34] of support, two positions of opposition, and 17 written comments. We have 25 speakers

[1:03:40] on this item.

[1:03:43] All right. Before we start on 02, we do have a lot of public speakers tonight and I just

[1:03:49] want to go through a few reminders before we start the public speakers. I want to remind

[1:03:54] everybody that the citizen participation rules that I read at the beginning of the meeting

[1:04:02] the bill.

[1:04:03] If the participation rules are

[1:04:04] violated you will be asked to stop

[1:04:05] immediately and if it continues

[1:04:07] to persist I will recess the

[1:04:08] meeting and tell the

[1:04:09] audience abides the rules in the

[1:04:10] city code.

[1:04:12] If you have signs, the signs

[1:04:13] must not block any other

[1:04:15] audience members view.

[1:04:16] I recommend you hold them

[1:04:18] Beneath your chin so you can see and the person behind you can see

[1:04:22] Each speaker will get three minutes and Mrs. Shots will call the speakers and groups of four when your names called

[1:04:28] Please come have a seat in the front row so we can eliminate any delays and if a speaker's name is called

[1:04:33] They're not in the room. We will move on to the next speaker. We will not go back the timer again is in play

[1:04:39] That will be over on the the right Dias or the side Dias to your right

[1:04:43] It will buzz when it hits zero and we will alert the speaker that their time is up

[1:04:48] Let's begin with the first four.

[1:04:49] The first four speakers and item O2 are Michael Lapinski,

[1:04:53] Catherine Clarkin, Steve Kushman and John Desmond Doyle.

[1:05:10] Hi, I'm Michael Lapinski.

[1:05:13] Good evening to the mayor and council members.

[1:05:17] What do citizens expect from their city council?

[1:05:22] Number one loyalty to its people, now and in the future.

[1:05:26] Number two, understand citizens household profiles, such as earnings, cost pressures, unrelenting

[1:05:35] taxes, utility services, et cetera.

[1:05:40] Number three, as it is, there is mounting pressure on many Napervo families to meet

[1:05:46] their monthly expenses.

[1:05:48] This is led to using charitable organizations to supplement food requirements and more.

[1:05:55] This likely contributes to why loaves and fishes, people's resource center and other organizations are expanding to meet increasing demand.

[1:06:07] Number four, compassion for your fellow man and women to accept that everyone has a place at the table in Naperville.

[1:06:17] Number five, don't reject making the tough decision because of politics

[1:06:22] or the short-term feel-good choice that could greatly impact our future energy costs.

[1:06:30] Number six, listen to concerned citizens, PUAV, consultants, and industry expert input

[1:06:40] when examining difficult supply contract decisions.

[1:06:45] Number seven, the difficult decision for city council is to choose status quo.

[1:06:50] that has a proven supply track record and stable cost to minimize cost impact on citizens.

[1:06:59] We expect your sensibility over a short-term feel good vote, that has a long-term cost burden to rate payers in each of you.

[1:07:10] Number 8.

[1:07:12] The way forward with stable prices, stable supply, reduced infrastructure, complexity,

[1:07:19] and renewable supply capability is with IMEA.

[1:07:25] Number nine, this is your time to step up and cast your vote for the citizens you represent

[1:07:33] and approve the new IMEA contract.

[1:07:38] Thank you.

[1:07:40] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:07:42] The next speaker is Catherine Clarkin.

[1:07:46] Good evening.

[1:07:47] I'm Kathy Clarkin, a Naperville resident of 16 years and an environmental scientist.

[1:07:52] As you prepare for the IMEA vote, I'd like you to imagine a future in which Naperville

[1:07:59] has stable low-cost electricity, insulated from the volatility of capacity pricing and

[1:08:06] rising cost of transmission. A city where people want to move because well-designed homes

[1:08:13] are cheap to heat and cool. Imagine parking at the grocery store on a snowy

[1:08:19] day, and not having to clear your windshield because you're under a solar array. Picture getting

[1:08:26] paid to have your electric vehicle discharge back to the grid when peak demand is high. You

[1:08:34] could even have a choice in where your electricity comes from. This future is already happening

[1:08:41] in cities around the country and around the world. Solar and wind energy are inexhaustible,

[1:08:49] and batteries allow that energy deployment 24-7.

[1:08:54] These clean energy technologies

[1:08:56] are already cheaper than fossil fuels

[1:08:59] and create significantly less health

[1:09:01] and environmental impact.

[1:09:03] They also offer job opportunities

[1:09:06] that a fossil fuel plant doesn't.

[1:09:10] Job opportunities right here in Naperville.

[1:09:13] Because Naperville is already our own electric utility,

[1:09:17] We are perfectly positioned to take advantage of these opportunities from virtual power plants to local generation and storage to time of use rates to efficiency and electrification incentives.

[1:09:34] NAPERville can exert local control and chart our own path, meaning our electricity needs

[1:09:43] affordably and aligned with our community values.

[1:09:48] Life without IMEA is not scary, it's not risky.

[1:09:53] These opportunities are exciting.

[1:09:56] Let's do this.

[1:10:00] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:10:01] The next four speakers are Steve Kishman, John Desmond Doyle, Patrick Hughes, and

[1:10:05] and she gel core.

[1:10:09] Good evening, my name is Steve Kushman.

[1:10:11] I'm a 38-year resident of Naperville.

[1:10:13] I'm here to recommend that the city renew the IMEA.

[1:10:16] I'm going to use IMEA.

[1:10:17] The IMEA contract extension.

[1:10:20] I recently read a letter that all of the council received.

[1:10:22] I understand in January 2026 from the IMEA president

[1:10:26] to the city council and was impressed with the work

[1:10:28] that IMEA has done in the 15 years

[1:10:31] they've been our energy supplier.

[1:10:32] I was also surprised that apparently IMEA

[1:10:35] has not been invited to an open public meeting to directly answer questions about the proposed

[1:10:40] contract extension. I recommend that the council provide such an invitation to IMEA and

[1:10:46] help gather relevant information in a public transparent manner. Reading the IMEA letter

[1:10:50] provides a historical perspective about past council goals such as delivering stable reliable

[1:10:55] power supply with a financial hedge. Naperville is currently in an enviable position because

[1:11:01] of that foresight.

[1:11:03] Not only has IMEA provided affordable, reliable and sustainable power, they're also helping

[1:11:08] its members navigate the transition to cleaner power in a responsible and I repeat responsible

[1:11:13] manner.

[1:11:14] We've got to be careful not to let the changes to our electric supply get ahead of what

[1:11:19] the capabilities of current capabilities of technology.

[1:11:23] IMEA is committed though to a net zero future by 2050 and also is well positioned to help

[1:11:28] plus navigate through the current and near-term expected volatility in the energy markets.

[1:11:34] Naperville is frequently cited as one of the best places to live in the nation.

[1:11:38] Manufacturers go into that, but a very important factor is affordable, predictable energy supply with trusted partners.

[1:11:45] Failure to renew the contract places a significant risk to all 150,000 Naperville residents.

[1:11:51] As well as future Naperville citizens, it also puts business partners at risk.

[1:11:55] as they rely on reliable, affordable energy supply when deciding to where to locate.

[1:12:02] We have a wonderful reputation.

[1:12:03] Reputations get built in decades.

[1:12:05] They can be destroyed pretty quick with wrong decisions.

[1:12:08] I would also remind the council that about 25% of Naperville households live in households

[1:12:13] of income of $75,000, excuse me, dollars or less, and we'll find it much more difficult

[1:12:18] to pay for what could be skyrocketing future energy bills.

[1:12:22] We in Naperville had benefited from a positive legacy of that pass city council, and we should not squander that opportunity to continue with the trusted partner.

[1:12:32] One final thought, I just received my most recent January 2026 electric bill, and I noted in there in this Naperville connected newsletter that our average electric bill in Naperville is 16% lower than ComEd's average bill.

[1:12:48] Thank you, IMEA, for all your work and continuing work over the 15 years.

[1:12:52] And thank you to that past council and thank you to this council for your time and attention.

[1:13:00] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:13:01] The next speaker is John Desmond Doyle.

[1:13:05] Good evening, Mr. Mayor and council, thank you for having me.

[1:13:08] My name is John Doyle, long time resident, and for the past decade or so, I have been working for an environmental solutions company.

[1:13:14] And prior to that, I was in recycling.

[1:13:16] And in my experience, the entire debate on sustainability and green energy, I mean, it really comes

[1:13:22] down to cost, right? That's what this is about. Because you don't really meet people who

[1:13:26] are pro-pollution. I don't think anybody behind me is going to come up and say, can't wait

[1:13:31] to smell some smog again, right? That's not what we're debating here. What we're debating

[1:13:37] is the cost. And, you know, I'm of the opinion that if we have the means to do something,

[1:13:43] and we have an obligation to do it.

[1:13:46] And one thing that we all in this room can agree with

[1:13:48] is Naperville's never been described as being without means.

[1:13:53] And it's frustrating to me

[1:13:54] that we're still having this conversation

[1:13:56] because I thought that it was pretty obvious

[1:13:59] after last year's election

[1:14:00] that I'm not alone in that opinion.

[1:14:03] This was the number one issue going into the election.

[1:14:06] Hands down, it was the first question

[1:14:08] that Naperville's son asked.

[1:14:09] And they were plain blank.

[1:14:10] like they said, what's the priority, affordability or sustainability, and I would like to remind

[1:14:17] the council of some of the answers provided to that question.

[1:14:20] The city should issue a comprehensive RFP that clearly defines our priorities, sustainability,

[1:14:27] reliability, cost effectiveness, sustainable first, cost glass.

[1:14:33] Another answer, the city council must ensure that our future energy contract does not exchange

[1:14:38] in short-term cost savings for long-term problems.

[1:14:42] Those answers came from members White and Gibson,

[1:14:45] who received the most votes and second amount of most votes.

[1:14:49] On the other side of the issue,

[1:14:51] we had answers like, we had answers like,

[1:14:55] we need to adopt a reliable, cost-effective,

[1:14:58] clean strategy.

[1:14:59] you

[1:15:00] We're putting costs above clean. And another, quite bluntly said, our energy strategy must prioritize affordability. The two gentlemen that gave those answers came in last and second to last. The results were not even close. You asked us, you told us, you said, if we vote for you, you will get us a greener contract, even if it costs more. And we voted for you. It was a landslide. The city spoke.

[1:15:27] I don't understand why we're still having this conversation.

[1:15:32] So that's why I'm here asking that not only do we suspend negotiations, we go ahead

[1:15:37] and formally let them know that we will be severing our relationship at the other contract.

[1:15:43] The city spoke loud and clear last April.

[1:15:46] We want a greener option than what IMEA has to offer and their red lines and the response

[1:15:52] from our counter-proposal show clearly that they're never going to need us in the middle.

[1:15:58] Let's stop wasting everybody's time, cut our ties, and so all 32 communities can start

[1:16:04] making plans for 2035 and beyond. Thank you. Thank you, next speaker.

[1:16:10] The next speaker is our Patrick Hughes, C. Gilgore, Joseph Hus, and Teresa Hus.

[1:16:18] Good evening, Mayor, Council members and fellow residents. My name is Pat Hughes.

[1:16:24] I've lived

[1:16:25] is a member of a affordable neighbor bill, where a group of concerned citizens and not IMEA employees were dedicated to holding our government accountable for delivering affordable, reliable energy that allows families to thrive.

[1:16:37] Last September I learned that the Council might be considering walking away from our 24-year bond investments with IMEA.

[1:16:45] By 2035, when our current contract ends, neighborhood ratepayers will have paid roughly $700 million towards that bond.

[1:16:53] At that point, just as the debt is paid off and we find the only assets that free, we abandoned them.

[1:16:59] This is just like paying off your home mortgage and they're walking away from the house.

[1:17:04] It simply makes no sense and especially now.

[1:17:08] Current headlines more to increasing stress on the grid and price spikes as demand surges from things like data centers,

[1:17:14] electric vehicles and just economic growth.

[1:17:18] Recent laws are also reducing reliable energy supply.

[1:17:21] Thanks, Siege. Should prediction become reality, the resulting price

[1:17:25] I will act like a regressive tax hitting the neediest families first and hardest.

[1:17:29] For them, this could force impossible choices between keeping the lights on,

[1:17:33] buying groceries, filling prescriptions, and heating their homes in the winter.

[1:17:37] I respectfully urge the council to approve the proposed 20-year extension with IMIA.

[1:17:42] They are requesting this now so they can plan and build the infrastructure will need for decades ahead.

[1:17:46] If you don't move forward on the request, or put it on the back burner, the most likely

[1:17:52] outcome is that Emil will find other partners eager to take out our seat at the table and

[1:17:56] benefit from the $700 million of paid off assets that Naperville leaves behind.

[1:18:01] Emil has delivered steady low-cost power since 2011.

[1:18:05] Even with bonds across included, Naperville's rates remain 20% to 30% below Com ads, leaving

[1:18:11] all of us with a little bit more money in our pockets.

[1:18:13] now some may believe demand will ease and renewables like wind and solar will

[1:18:17] fully meet our needs at lower cost. However, evidence shows significant

[1:18:21] challenges in scaling clean energy quickly enough with reliable base load

[1:18:25] support like the kind I may have revised. If Nest or others claim cheaper alternatives

[1:18:30] exist, I ask the council for full transparency. Release the market analysis,

[1:18:35] modeling results, and data so the public can see the facts.

[1:18:42] Approving the IMEA extension

[1:18:43] safeguards that are for our

[1:18:44] families and our

[1:18:46] economy.

[1:18:47] We'll never have any

[1:18:51] If you haven't done so

[1:18:52] already, I respectfully ask

[1:18:53] you to bring IMEA to the

[1:18:54] work shop to discuss details and

[1:18:56] address any questions and

[1:18:58] concerns.

[1:19:00] Thank you for your careful

[1:19:01] consideration, and

[1:19:02] concern for the residents

[1:19:05] of

[1:19:08] The next speaker is Siegel Gore, followed by Joseph Huss.

[1:19:14] Next speaker.

[1:19:15] The next speakers are Joseph Huss, Theresa Huss, Larry College, and Al Carvellis.

[1:19:38] I'm Joe Huss, I've been a neighbor of the whole resident for over 25 years and I'm a next volunteer.

[1:19:45] Sign in a contract nine years before it starts without any competitive quotes for an extension that lasts till 2055

[1:19:54] with no way to exit is unprecedented.

[1:19:58] The consultants, the city hired,

[1:20:00] said they had never heard of anyone doing anything similar.

[1:20:04] My day job involves reviewing dozens of business cases

[1:20:07] each year and I've never seen a contract this large

[1:20:10] with so little supporting financial evidence.

[1:20:14] IME's current performance would have to be remarkable

[1:20:17] to take this unprecedented action,

[1:20:19] but instead IME's costs are higher than the market

[1:20:23] and IMAs plant generates more air pollution than any other plant in the state.

[1:20:30] Since IMAs offer two years ago, we've focused on a single option.

[1:20:35] It's time to follow a standard procurement process by putting the contract out for competitive bids

[1:20:41] on a schedule that works best for the residents of Naperville rather than IMAA.

[1:20:47] So I would not support just bringing in IMAs the only option to have them speak

[1:20:52] to Council.

[1:20:56] There are three reasons why NESS opposes IMEA extension. The first is IMEA

[1:21:03] has been and continues to be more expensive than the alternatives. Second, we lose flexibility

[1:21:08] and control for the next 30 years. No other option takes away our energy autonomy like IMEA.

[1:21:16] Third, we continue to pay IMEA to burn millions of tons of coal to generate electricity.

[1:21:25] There are three facts that we'll talk about in our presentation.

[1:21:28] The first is that IMAA charges about $90 megawatt hour, not the $35 that you might have seen.

[1:21:36] IMAA consistently costs more than the alternatives, and IMAA consistently pollutes more than the alternatives.

[1:21:44] In 2025, IMAA charges just under $90 megawatt hour, you can easily see this data from the city's electricity bills.

[1:21:53] In 2026, IMEA will be even more expensive as they announced a transmission rate increase

[1:22:00] of 12% on January 1st of this year.

[1:22:03] Not only are they not heading toward $35 per megawatt hour, but IME bills are going up.

[1:22:10] The top left shows that over the past five years it's been over a 12% annual increase

[1:22:15] on average in transmission costs.

[1:22:18] The lower right is what IMEA gave us, and they're even saying that the costs are increasing.

[1:22:24] So if people reference $35 a megawatt, please share our bills and let them know that that's just a small part of the actual cost.

[1:22:33] Thank you.

[1:22:35] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:22:36] The next speaker is Theresa Huss, followed by Larry Colis.

[1:22:41] I'm Theresa Huss, also a long time neighborful resident in S volunteer.

[1:22:46] I'm talking about the second concern we have, which is the IMEA cost, and the city has provided helpful information to support our analysis.

[1:22:55] On the left is the latest manager's memo, which used PGM's Naperville node price to explain to residents how electricity is priced here in Naperville.

[1:23:05] Nest used the same Naperville node price that was in the manager's memo to create our analysis.

[1:23:28] We have a 22-minute video that explains the formula so you can replicate and check our numbers, and to be clear, because this has been misrepresented, this chart isn't meant to propose a future plan.

[1:23:41] One, its purpose is to show the premium that Naperville has been paying under IMEA.

[1:23:48] In every one of the 12 years for which we have data, Naperville's costs have been higher under IMEA than the market alternatives for the exact same product.

[1:23:59] So that leads me to have two questions.

[1:24:02] Are we getting value for the millions of extra dollars we're spending each year with IMEA?

[1:24:08] and have we fully explored the many other options that are available to us.

[1:24:14] Our hope is that neighborhood develops a real energy strategy and ultimately an RFP built around neighborhood needs.

[1:24:22] So the city can understand the true financial cost of staying with IMEA and

[1:24:27] how it compares to the full range of market alternatives.

[1:24:31] And if you don't like Ness' costs analysis, you don't want to try and replicate our data.

[1:24:38] We have two more independent analyses.

[1:24:41] The Chicago Tribune has written extensively about IMEA's high costs.

[1:24:45] You can see one of those up on the left.

[1:24:47] And on the right is an analysis from CJT Energy Law, a city contractor hired to provide insights

[1:24:53] into the electricity market.

[1:24:55] At the July Energy Workshop, they said that IMEA was more expensive than the ComEd proxy wholesale power benchmark.

[1:25:03] So we've got three sources of information, three different benchmark.

[1:25:07] IMEA has been more expensive and there's no reason to think that's going to change.

[1:25:12] We are also concerned about residents' bills.

[1:25:16] That's the reason we recommend exploring all the alternatives to find a sustainable and affordable option.

[1:25:25] Thank you.

[1:25:28] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:25:29] The next speakers are Larry Colash,

[1:25:31] Al Carvellas, Tim Faredo, followed by Rich Darnal.

[1:25:37] One

[1:25:42] of these.

[1:25:52] Thank you.

[1:25:53] Hello, my name is Larry Colash.

[1:25:56] I'm a Naperville resident of 30 years.

[1:26:00] And I'm also a volunteer with nest.

[1:26:04] Please let me allow you to remind you that in addition to

[1:26:09] I may be in more expensive, it is also a huge polluter.

[1:26:15] The information I'll present is referenced

[1:26:18] on these websites.

[1:26:24] I may's coal plant is Illinois's largest source

[1:26:29] of air pollution.

[1:26:31] It's the largest emitter of carbon dioxide

[1:26:33] with over 12 million tons of CO2 emitted each year.

[1:26:40] This leads to climate change, which means more frequent intense heat waves, polar vortexes and hurricanes.

[1:26:51] It's also the largest submitter of methane, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, that result in acid rain and caused severe respiratory issues such as asthma, lung disease, heart attacks and premature deaths.

[1:27:09] How

[1:27:12] does IMA create so much air pollution because 86% of the electricity IMA generates

[1:27:21] is from coal, the dirtiest of fuels.

[1:27:25] According to the city greenhouse gas inventory report that with IMA is our vendor, Naperville

[1:27:32] is responsible for 3.5 billion pounds of air pollution annually.

[1:27:39] Even though IMAA has a presentation on reducing pollution, the contract does not include any commitments to that plan.

[1:27:52] IMAA's member-directed resource or MDR option doesn't reduce our emissions since the contract first requires us to buy all of our electricity from IMAA resources.

[1:28:06] and consider that if, you know, if a fewer communities sign up for the polluting plants, they will eventually retire.

[1:28:15] In summary, we advise the city to stop negotiating with IMEA. IMEA contract does not serve the Naperville's interest due to its high costs and pollution.

[1:28:31] Instead, Naperville should develop a clear long-term energy strategy and follow our procurement

[1:28:40] process to solicit competitive bids.

[1:28:44] It's time to move forward.

[1:28:47] Naperville has so many other strong alternatives.

[1:28:50] Thank you and I appreciate the effort everyone's put in over the last two years.

[1:28:56] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:28:57] The next speaker is Al Carvella, followed by Tim Faredo.

[1:29:00] Good

[1:29:07] evening. My name is Albert Carvilles. I have worked and lived in Aprilville for

[1:29:13] over 35 years. The IMEA extension locks Naperville into a 30-year one-sided contract with

[1:29:24] a coal-centric agency. This creates a unique risk. Under the contract, Naperville is limited

[1:29:33] to a one-thirty-second vote voice in IMEA voting, except in unique circumstances,

[1:29:41] and even then, Naperville never has a controlling vote. This contract features greatly diminishes

[1:29:51] Naperville's ability to influence any proposed large expenditures, every bond obligation, and

[1:30:00] And any decarbonization avoidance or delay. Moreover, the proposed contract imposes no quantitative

[1:30:10] metrics, performance metrics on IMEA, thereby pushing even more risk on to day prevail.

[1:30:18] These contract features, combined with IMEA's historical lack of transparency, are bound

[1:30:26] to retard timely adoption of constantly emerging lower cost technology.

[1:30:34] Thank you for the opportunity to address you.

[1:30:40] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:30:41] The next four speakers are Tim Faredo, Rich, Sternel, James Filar, and Adi Julga.

[1:30:56] Tim Faredo, a Naperville resident, and a member of a affordable Naperville.

[1:31:02] We have up on the screen right here is the LNP, is a graph of the LNP prices for

[1:31:07] or the Naperville node, one's for the Comma's own,

[1:31:11] the other one's for the Naperville node,

[1:31:13] but the top graph is what Mark Kurt showed

[1:31:16] at one of the PUAB meetings

[1:31:18] and what he was trying to point out

[1:31:22] was a volatility in this LNP market.

[1:31:25] And he went on the set to say that cities do not want

[1:31:28] to buy from the LNP market, it's too volatile.

[1:31:32] Down below is what happened to us last month.

[1:31:35] This is a Naperville node and shows a volatility of last month when we had the cold snap the price is tripled

[1:31:43] So imagine being on an hourly rate

[1:31:47] With comment or with comment or with anyone your priceway tripled plus your usage will went up

[1:31:53] You would have been stuck with a big bill

[1:31:55] So

[1:32:00] this proxy has been talked about the LNP market proxy. It's invalid proxy. No one uses it

[1:32:07] But no major city buys off of it, it's invalid, it should not be used as a comparison.

[1:32:15] Plus, it's not an alternative.

[1:32:18] And that's not my view on it only.

[1:32:21] But the two consultants that we here had her in Naperville said that as well.

[1:32:26] And the consultant, St. Charles, repeated that.

[1:32:28] He said, cities want stable pricing, they don't want volatile pricing.

[1:32:33] And they went and the St. Charles consultant went on to talk about how power marketers would even recommend cities to say away from the LNP market.

[1:32:46] So next I want to talk about the

[1:32:51] RFP, the request for power that was put in, put out for the MDR.

[1:32:56] At least for 70 megawatts, it's a lot of power and would fill most of the neighborhood residential demand.

[1:33:03] It definitely would attract interest for people of bid on it.

[1:33:08] We still don't have the numbers, still in dark, but I could put some numbers together that we have from the outside, from public information.

[1:33:18] But first, when you get the data, you all have seen the numbers, what you need to do is add a total adder, which will include capacity correction and load following to normalize the data.

[1:33:32] As you can see, solar, if you want with solar, you will have to add $38 in megawatt.

[1:33:39] Right now, IMEA's price is at $50 in megawatt when you strip out transmission and bonds.

[1:33:45] When we look outside, like some deals that were done and true those up, you have a no-brainer exercise.

[1:33:52] IMEA at $50 in megawatt, again, without transmission or the bonds, versus alternative external contract at $97.

[1:34:01] and now there's a megawatt hour.

[1:34:03] Thank you.

[1:34:05] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:34:06] The next speaker is Rich Journal,

[1:34:08] followed by James Fuller.

[1:34:16] Good evening, my name's Rich Journal.

[1:34:18] I've been a resident in the April Bill for 25 years.

[1:34:21] Last summer, when Neckos City Council dealt

[1:34:23] with this decision itself, and they went with IMEA.

[1:34:29] They had a statement on June 18th

[1:34:31] in their 2025 explaining their decision.

[1:34:35] I'm going to do some excerpts from that.

[1:34:39] The bill approved the extension to supply contract Illinois with IMEA through 2055.

[1:34:46] We understand that this is a contentious issue, doing part to IMA's use of the coal and

[1:34:51] its current power generation portfolio.

[1:34:54] The bill's council is not a fan of coal and we are deeply concerned about the environment.

[1:34:58] The decision to extend the contract and continue with IMA was not taken lightly at all.

[1:35:03] Reviewed the issue for 14 months at five study sessions on the topic where extensive public comment was heard we spoke with business people directly involved with the supply and the equipment in the power grid met with energy consultant on multiple occasions.

[1:35:21] We investigated the village's options with power marketers that supply power to municipalities and reported back his findings.

[1:35:28] It was a exhaustive effort undertaken to understand an extremely complex issue.

[1:35:34] And the best interest of the village ability to supply a predictable, reliable, and affordable

[1:35:39] power with limited risk of interruption.

[1:35:44] They continued to make the choice to pursue a different electric supplier option and a rapidly

[1:35:50] changing electric market would have been significant risk that the council was unwilling to take.

[1:35:55] They understood that on the service that looks like we are supporting electricity from

[1:35:59] coal generation.

[1:36:00] This is not the case.

[1:36:01] We are maintaining our existing outstanding reliable and affordable delivery of electricity

[1:36:06] to Moneca's homes and businesses, and supporting our energy supplier and its plans to move toward

[1:36:11] carbon neutral generation.

[1:36:15] So from Moneca's statement, you can see the prize regarding electric power contract.

[1:36:21] So for individuals in this room and elsewhere to advocate, leaving IMA and adopting all

[1:36:26] sort for Naperville's electric power and need to understand the law of unintended consequences,

[1:36:31] naming our multi-electric bill, delving or tripling in the not-too-distant future.

[1:36:38] Tonight the council has the decision to essentially support a co-op of communities to share the

[1:36:42] expense of producing economical, reliable energy rather than putting Naperville at the mercy

[1:36:47] of a for-profit energy providers, I urge the council to extend a contract, I'm A. Thank

[1:36:54] you.

[1:36:57] Thank you.

[1:36:58] Next speaker.

[1:36:59] The next four speakers are James Filar, Addy, Jilka, Ashley Pennick, and Robert Geese.

[1:37:12] Good evening.

[1:37:16] This plot of pricing from IMEA for the last ten years.

[1:37:19] The red sections are transmission fees imposed by the grids.

[1:37:24] The blue bars represent pricing for energy and bonds.

[1:37:26] note the blue bars are lower now than they were 10 years ago.

[1:37:31] The chart on the left shows hourly pricing in our area.

[1:37:34] The chart on the right is for January.

[1:37:36] Note prices reached almost $1,000 per megawatt during the recent storm.

[1:37:41] Per estate produces at $35 per megawatt, no matter what the weather.

[1:37:46] No municipality buys power this way, but Nest tells us, tells its followers.

[1:37:51] This is an option for Naperville.

[1:37:53] This is an index of wind and solar prices released by level 10 last week.

[1:37:59] Wind and solar prices are rising unabated.

[1:38:02] To this day, Nest tells its followers that wind and solar prices are plummeting.

[1:38:08] At a more local level, or the city, Naperville ratepayers paid 25% less for their power than

[1:38:14] their common neighbors last year.

[1:38:17] This trend will not reverse itself.

[1:38:19] This map shows generating plants surrounding our city.

[1:38:24] Natural gas, plants are blue, nuclear plants are green.

[1:38:28] It's clearly received no power from a coal plant.

[1:38:31] In fact, Naperville's generation is very clean.

[1:38:35] Seja requires a shutdown of all fossil fuel plants

[1:38:38] in Illinois by 2045.

[1:38:41] Of that, 12 gigawatts of capacity in our area

[1:38:44] is required to shut down in 2030.

[1:38:47] That's equivalent to the entire nuclear fleet of Illinois.

[1:38:51] Less power equals higher prices.

[1:38:55] In December, the Illinois Power Agency released its resource adequacy report.

[1:39:00] It stated PGM is expected to experience a capacity shortfall beginning in 2029, and

[1:39:07] the deficit will widen in subsequent years.

[1:39:12] This chart from the report shows the capacity shortfalls is indicated at the top of each bar.

[1:39:17] The term capacity shortfalls is grid-speak for blackouts becoming reality.

[1:39:24] In January, NERC released their long-term reliability assessment.

[1:39:29] Like the Illinois Power Agency, NERC's report warns that both PJM and Mycell are classified

[1:39:35] as high-risk areas for shortfalls starting in 2029, as shown in red on the table in the map.

[1:39:42] High-risk means shortages, which equals higher prices.

[1:39:45] Note the two independent reports highlight 2030 as the period of high risk.

[1:39:52] Coincidentally, should Naperville decide to leave the beneficial embrace of IMEA.

[1:39:59] This is the exact time Naperville would begin an ill-advised search for a better power supplier.

[1:40:06] It's such an event unfolds.

[1:40:09] It's likely to be one of the most predictable slow motion economic train wrecks in the city's history.

[1:40:16] 63,000 families and businesses are counting on you to provide them affordable power.

[1:40:22] Thank you.

[1:40:23] Thank you.

[1:40:24] Thank you.

[1:40:24] Next speaker.

[1:40:25] The next speaker is Eddie Jilka, followed by Ashley Penneck.

[1:40:34] Hello.

[1:40:35] My name is Eddie Jilka.

[1:40:36] I would like to thank our council members for allowing me and many others to speak here

[1:40:40] today.

[1:40:40] I'm the member of Power Better Future and was an intern at a separate climate solutions

[1:40:44] over the summer.

[1:40:45] I also am a sophomore at Naperville Central High School.

[1:40:48] Like many of us here today.

[1:40:49] I wanted to talk about the IMEA contract, but I thought I could bring a different perspective as a youth member of our community.

[1:40:57] The IMEA provides electricity to Naperville and wants to continue doing so for the next 30 years.

[1:41:03] For reference, I am 15 right now and I will be 45 by that time.

[1:41:07] I will be bald and have a beard.

[1:41:12] The other issue about the IMEA is that 80% of the electricity that it produces is cold-based energy.

[1:41:18] And the energy from which this coal energy is procured amidst millions of tons of carbon emissions,

[1:41:24] cost billions of dollars in medical bills, and kill over 100 people every single year.

[1:41:29] We are, in effect, the dirtiest city in all of Illinois.

[1:41:33] And are complicit in both the damage to our environment and everyday Illinois' financial and physical well-being.

[1:41:39] How many more habitats will we have to destroy?

[1:41:42] How many more families will we have to put in crippling medical debt?

[1:41:45] or people will we have to harm to make a change to the council?

[1:41:50] Before you make your decision today, I would like for you to think about your legacy.

[1:41:53] The decision you make today will affect people like me and others for future generations.

[1:42:00] I would like, will you want to be remembered as the trailblazers who changed the trajectory of

[1:42:05] Naperville's energy or as the council members who condemned our city to a dark and dirty future?

[1:42:11] Thank you for your time.

[1:42:14] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:42:15] The next speakers are Ashley Pennick, followed by Robert Geese, Andrea Ramirez, and Stephanie

[1:42:20] Jacks.

[1:42:23] Ashley Pennick here, you know I work in restaurants.

[1:42:26] I had a question, asked the other day the first time ever.

[1:42:29] I guess ask me, why don't you give a drink menu out to every single person?

[1:42:32] My response to him was, because you only have a certain number.

[1:42:36] If you give one out to every single person we've gone out, not everyone wants a drink menu.

[1:42:42] A menu is only one of many moving parts when operating a restaurant.

[1:42:45] Some of the moving parts that you deal with are the cost of labor, rent,

[1:42:49] linens, food, liquor, and equipment, if it breaks.

[1:42:54] I could go on, but these are just some of the moving parts when making a restaurant run.

[1:42:59] A pamphlet called iPens was written by Leonard Reed in 1958.

[1:43:03] He was the founder of a free market think tank called Fee, foundation for economic education.

[1:43:09] It's the first free market think tank established in the United States in 1946.

[1:43:13] The point of eye pencil is this, a pencil is at face value is just a pencil.

[1:43:20] But there are many moving parts like a restaurant that build a pencil.

[1:43:24] You have the wood, eraser, the graphite, the paint, the saw that cuts down the tree.

[1:43:31] There is no one thing that makes some pencil.

[1:43:33] It is the combination of everything working together that makes the pencil.

[1:43:37] I have always been a proponent of free markets, and in the beginning, from more of a philosophical

[1:43:41] perspective, but when I became a restaurant manager, it helped confirm what I had learned and put it into practice.

[1:43:47] I am not opposed to things, prices going up and down, but from a business perspective, you want things to be stable.

[1:43:55] And business, when prices of things constantly change, whether labor, added fees from new regulations,

[1:44:01] knowing something that price of it from years on out is phenomenal.

[1:44:04] Narrow exposure to the market is one of the highlights with IMEA.

[1:44:08] If we stay enrolled in IMEA, we will only be exposed partially to the market.

[1:44:14] If we are not enrolled in IMEA, we'll be exposed to market forces 100%.

[1:44:18] It will go up and down much more drastically.

[1:44:22] It's the stability.

[1:44:23] If businesses or homeowners know that the right of energy is going to remain partly stable,

[1:44:28] we have budgeting, one of the moving parts.

[1:44:32] Having some predictability even if it is not beneficial completely.

[1:44:35] Another reason I'd price this go up is because of transmission costs.

[1:44:40] Transmission costs are the fees charged to transport high voltage, electricity and

[1:44:45] bulk from power generation plants to local utility distribution substations.

[1:44:50] Government plays a big role in this.

[1:44:52] Transmission costs are from added regulation which create unforeseen costs.

[1:44:57] but also due to the man user.

[1:45:00] Members of the system, much of it added government barriers to entry. This is especially true in restaurants. Lastly, I am a member of affordable neighborhood. Restaurant wheat runs until February 8th. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. The next speaker is Robert Geese followed by Andrea Ramirez.

[1:45:25] My name is Robert Geese. I have been a neighborhood resident since 1972 when I graduated from Stanford with a PhD in physics.

[1:45:32] and started a career at Argonne National Laboratory.

[1:45:35] I'm part of Affordable Naperville

[1:45:37] because I care about Naperville.

[1:45:39] I spent most of my 26 years at Argonne

[1:45:43] in the Energy System Division,

[1:45:45] studying electric utility systems.

[1:45:47] These systems are very complex

[1:45:49] and I could spend an hour refuting nest assertion.

[1:45:52] However, that would get us into the weeds

[1:45:54] so I will spend my time indicating

[1:45:56] what walking away from negotiation with IMEA

[1:45:59] will cost citizens of Naperville.

[1:46:02] To manage costs and reliability on peak demand days,

[1:46:06] utilities join together to help each other.

[1:46:08] Both comment and an IMEA belong to PGM,

[1:46:13] which covers much of the Northeast.

[1:46:15] Things are projected to get much tighter

[1:46:17] with PGM and other networks and costs will go up.

[1:46:20] The last coal snap challenge, the PGM system,

[1:46:23] the cost for purchasing a daily contract

[1:46:26] for electricity increased 30 fold.

[1:46:28] And an hourly contract would have been much worse.

[1:46:31] IMEA protects us from such swings.

[1:46:34] Right now, IMEA provides Naperville customers

[1:46:36] with electricity priced about 25% lower

[1:46:40] than combat customers.

[1:46:42] If you want to rely on solar and wind,

[1:46:44] you will most likely have to put up

[1:46:45] with more frequent power outages.

[1:46:48] Battery storage is not a panacea either.

[1:46:51] Batteries provide power for a limited time.

[1:46:53] If you guess wrong and when to use them,

[1:46:55] you lose their benefit.

[1:46:56] It also current battery technology presents fire hazards that can't be put out with water.

[1:47:02] The other issue is virtual signaling that won't accomplish anything positive.

[1:47:07] IMEA's coal plant will run with or without us.

[1:47:11] Naperville can't choose where their elections will come from.

[1:47:14] Furthermore, those council people who want to leave the contract don't really represent

[1:47:19] all of Naperville.

[1:47:20] Everyone I've talked to says it's a no-brainer to stay with IMEA.

[1:47:24] The people who elected the council people on nest side only represent 12% of Naperville.

[1:47:31] Most people didn't vote in the previous election and didn't even know that IMEA was an issue.

[1:47:36] They haven't expressed their opinion on leaving IMEA.

[1:47:40] Right now, Loves and Fishes has experienced a three-fold increase in people using their facility since COVID.

[1:47:46] About 25% of Naperville residents qualify for using Loves and Fishes.

[1:47:51] any increase in electricity costs will affect them very much.

[1:47:54] It's a shame that it's come to this.

[1:47:57] So the real issue is we have a burden hand versus totally unknown if we leave.

[1:48:02] If we leave present trends indicate costs will be going up with any other supplier, probably fast.

[1:48:09] There will be overhead costs for Napierville, New Staff, Legal and Regulations.

[1:48:14] Furthermore, in 2035, the loan will be paid off, lowering our energy costs.

[1:48:18] Because transmission is a red herring, any option will probably subject to similar transmission

[1:48:23] costs.

[1:48:24] We haven't even asked IMEA to counsel to make for both of them.

[1:48:30] Let's continue.

[1:48:30] It's an negotiate.

[1:48:31] Thank you.

[1:48:32] The next speaker is Andrew Ramirez, followed by Stephanie Jax, Dick Firstenaw, and Don Heller.

[1:48:43] Next speaker?

[1:48:44] The next speaker is Stephanie Jax.

[1:48:49] Next speaker?

[1:48:51] The next speaker is Dick Firstenaw.

[1:49:10] Hello, counsel and mayor.

[1:49:11] My name is Dick Ferson. I've been in town since 1977 that figures out close to 50 years in the same house by the way using the electricity whatever comes through the line.

[1:49:23] I happened to be the one of the guys in the room when this contract was signed and we went through everything that we could and I would say that we made one mistake and we didn't get enough say that was a mistake in that contract but going with IMEA was not a mistake.

[1:49:42] I'm going to tell you, and you probably heard this, but in 24 and 25, China is the biggest

[1:49:48] leader in electricity. They're the most electrified country in the world right now. And you

[1:49:54] know why? They built a hundred of those coal plants in both years. So that's 200 plants

[1:50:03] they built there. And they're using coal. That's how it works. And they are the most electrified

[1:50:09] country in the world right now. And we've got one coal plant and we're going crazy over it.

[1:50:18] We shouldn't do that. Whatever you get, whatever you buy, wherever you go, it's going to cost more.

[1:50:26] And I heard a number here tonight that didn't start with me. I thought it was pretty close.

[1:50:30] And that was the number of how much we've already invested in that plant.

[1:50:34] and if you don't believe that number,

[1:50:37] you should talk to Craig or there.

[1:50:39] He can give you the answer.

[1:50:40] He's got the answer.

[1:50:41] He knows how much they've spent,

[1:50:42] how much Naperville has spent.

[1:50:44] And it's not been cheap either, by the way.

[1:50:47] We invested a lot and you're gonna walk away from that

[1:50:50] and have no partner.

[1:50:52] And I talked about this a while back

[1:50:55] and the one thing that you cannot do

[1:50:58] when I go flip my switch, the light needs to go on.

[1:51:01] And what the robots are taking, I'm not too sure that's going to happen, but if you stick with the coal and you may even have to expand that plant in the future, I don't know for sure, I'm not a guy with all those numbers, I don't spend that much time on it.

[1:51:18] But I can tell you that I was a purchasing chief officer at loosened up here in AT&T Western

[1:51:28] Electric and the Bell Laboratories for the last 10 years of my career with that outfit.

[1:51:34] And I was responsible for procurement of everything that AT&T bought in this country, west of the

[1:51:44] Mississippi River, and it was billions of dollars, negotiated numbers of contracts before.

[1:51:52] And as far as I'm concerned, if we walk away from IMEA, we have no basis for

[1:51:58] anybody. These guys we've known for years. These guys want to supply us.

[1:52:04] These guys came through for us when we asked them. They built the power plant down there while we waited.

[1:52:09] I wasn't too sure it was going to get built, but it happened.

[1:52:14] You cannot.

[1:52:16] There's time is up.

[1:52:17] Thank you.

[1:52:17] You cannot leave.

[1:52:19] I am here.

[1:52:20] Thank you.

[1:52:20] The next speakers are Don Heller, followed by Marilyn Schweitzer, Judith McGowan, and Greg

[1:52:26] Hubert.

[1:52:28] Thank you, everyone, for the opportunity.

[1:52:31] My name is Don Heller, 27 year neighbor Bill Federeron, Federeron resident, but I'm not

[1:52:38] Not going to touch upon environmental issues, but two factors that jumped out at me is both

[1:52:44] cost effectiveness, financial impact to the actual consumer, the citizens of Naperville.

[1:52:52] My own experience with public involvement for 32 years, I was with the federal government.

[1:52:59] We worked on, we promulgated multi-million dollar environmental decisions.

[1:53:03] I've spoken in public hearings much larger auditoriums as with much larger hostile crowds.

[1:53:12] One thing we made a point of for key decisions which profoundly impact members of the community

[1:53:19] as we tried as much as possible to fully inform them.

[1:53:23] We issued public notices full statement of basis at fully weighed cost effectiveness and pros and cons

[1:53:32] of each alternative, we allowed a public comment period.

[1:53:37] Again, I've sat in front of hundreds of hostile people with this,

[1:53:41] but we fully informed the public before the final decisions were issued.

[1:53:47] It's kind of surprised me, if not for some of my church friends

[1:53:52] who are with Affordable Neighbor Bill, I didn't even know this wasn't an issue coming up.

[1:53:56] I did look at one thing on a website that apparently there was a FOIA request

[1:54:01] for kilowatt hour per unit costs for some of the green energy alternatives. And I was appalled.

[1:54:11] Apparently it was mostly black. It was redacted. Why?

[1:54:15] I mean, if the work I've done, if we had gone to the public with a document like that,

[1:54:22] we would have needed in the public hearings we did, we would have needed police assistance.

[1:54:28] So, to me, I think the council has a responsibility to fully inform the public for whether the

[1:54:36] green alternatives are staying with IMEA to weigh the pros and cons and easy language

[1:54:43] to understand what the cost per consumer would be.

[1:54:47] And again, it's no secret that increased energy costs would profoundly affect the pocket

[1:54:54] the books of all the residents because not every neighbor bill resident lives in a five bedroom

[1:55:00] house or pulls in a six or seven digit annual income. So before making any decision I would

[1:55:10] charge the council to more fully inform the public and easy to understand language including all the

[1:55:17] cost alternatives and for like the green alternatives what factor public funds subsidies play with them.

[1:55:24] for that. Thank you very much for your opportunity.

[1:55:29] Thank you, next speaker.

[1:55:30] The next speaker is Marilyn Schweitzer, followed by Judith McGowan.

[1:55:33] Good evening, Marilyn Schweitzer.

[1:55:36] And it may be February 3rd, but it really feels like Groundhog Day to me.

[1:55:40] For years, even before IMEA came out with an Earl Renewal contract,

[1:55:46] a large constituency in Naperville had been requesting that the city investigate

[1:55:50] alternatives to IMEA or changes to future IMEA contracts. Those requests were

[1:55:57] largely ignored until IME proposed an early renewal contract in opposition to

[1:56:04] that agreement without adequate exploration of alternatives became

[1:56:08] intense. I'm glad that the council finally hired a consultant. I'm glad the PAUB had

[1:56:15] a chance to weigh in and I really liked the minority vote for the on the PAUB

[1:56:19] review. I'm glad council finally held a workshop. I'm pleased that council delayed matters

[1:56:26] with I'm not pleased that the council delayed matters with IMEA until September with

[1:56:31] a suggested counter proposal that passed only as a motion of substitution, but at least

[1:56:36] that was a step forward. And tonight here we are again without a firm counteroffer and

[1:56:43] without a firm plan to move on. Just more vagaries. Enough waffling is time to move on.

[1:56:49] Based on Mr. Gross' comment from during the Council Q&A, Naperville has about two or three

[1:56:55] years to explore alternatives.

[1:56:58] So please don't simply vote yes to hold off on negotiating a nine-month-old expired

[1:57:03] successful contract, vote yes to explore seriously options other than IMEA with firm commitments

[1:57:11] and a clear plan, something that many in the community has been advocating for many years.

[1:57:17] Thank you very much.

[1:57:17] Thank you.

[1:57:20] Next speaker.

[1:57:21] The next speaker is Judith McGowan followed by Greg Hubert, Julie Berkowitz, and Jimina

[1:57:26] Argueta.

[1:57:28] Good evening.

[1:57:29] I'm here to urge the council to continue negotiations for extension of the IMEA contract

[1:57:35] and secure the energy sources, pricing, and infrastructure that IMEA provides to Naperville

[1:57:41] as we move into a period of volatility in the decades to come.

[1:57:45] maintain the fiscal advantages and reliability of our electrical source that is a key component

[1:57:50] that makes Naperville a success and is an important part of the value of our homes and

[1:57:56] our businesses. It's daunting to commit to a decade's long contract of this nature.

[1:58:02] Just go ask the farmers who are signing wind leases and it quickly becomes a multi-generational

[1:58:09] decision. It's a 20-something child or grandchild who's

[1:58:14] going to be dealing with the back end of those 40 year commitments and hopefully they're

[1:58:20] not left when they reach their 40s, 50s and beyond wondering what and why their parents

[1:58:28] and grandparents entered into those agreements decades ago. Ask me how I know it's an experience

[1:58:35] that my family is dealing with right now.

[1:58:39] The same thing is happening here with City Council.

[1:58:41] These long-term agreements are heavy and high stakes to be sure.

[1:58:46] The nature of such transactions has also lent itself to political activism, and instead

[1:58:51] of a rational, analytical negotiation to extend the contract, the process has been infected

[1:58:57] by virtue signaling and a rallying cry for no coal.

[1:59:00] I care about the reliability and the cost of the energy for my neighbor's home of 34 years.

[1:59:06] I disagree with Nest, and I find the presentation of the issues to be incredibly one-sided without

[1:59:13] regard to source, reliability or cost.

[1:59:16] Green doesn't mean clean, and honestly, the energy that powers Naperville comes from

[1:59:21] coal, leaving IMEA will not change that.

[1:59:26] I do have some concern, and one reason I came out to speak tonight was I have concern about

[1:59:33] Well, the role of Nest and the nature of this organization as a task force, you can see

[1:59:40] from the comments that have been said tonight and surround this issue, that Nest doesn't

[1:59:48] represent how everyone in Naperville views this issue and the long-term impacts.

[1:59:54] I would ask the council to provide

[2:00:00] If nest is to continue as a task force to maybe re-examine its composition, the wait or whether it should have that association and status. If it's to remain, please take steps to make this more well-rounded and to represent all voices and stakeholders. Thank you.

[2:00:25] Thank you, next speaker. The next speaker is Greg Cuberd, followed by Julie Berkowitz.

[2:00:35] Good evening.

[2:00:36] As a Naperville resident, I've tracked IMEA since 2018.

[2:00:42] Prior to nest, with nest, and now as co-founder of Clean Energy Naperville,

[2:00:47] where we continue to share our findings online.

[2:00:50] Please keep the word trust in mind.

[2:00:53] I'll return to it in my conclusion.

[2:00:56] IMEA is a unit of local government responsible for our public dollars.

[2:01:01] And here are some events in my IMEA journey.

[2:01:04] At a summer 2019 IMEA Board meeting, I heard leadership say that contract extensions

[2:01:11] might soon be necessary.

[2:01:14] In November 2019, Nest and I shared concerns about early renewal here at City Council.

[2:01:22] IMEA's November 2019 closed planning meeting minutes still remains sealed from the public

[2:01:29] today, more than five years later, by repeated board vote.

[2:01:35] In January 2022, Council learned from us that the carbon capture pilot project wasn't

[2:01:42] totally free to members, which was the impression from lack of information from IMEA.

[2:01:48] In December 2023, City Council listened to our concerns about IMEA's sustainability plan,

[2:01:55] which was developed without public input.

[2:01:57] This past December, I shared that IMEA refused to provide performance for transmission ownership projects withholding data from the public on costs, benefits, risks, and assumptions.

[2:02:13] IMEA doesn't provide board meeting recordings.

[2:02:16] When I requested a webinar clip of the resource planning presentation,

[2:02:23] IMEA's formal response was, the record you requested does not exist.

[2:02:30] WTF, did you know we can't see the market sales revenues since their buried and net expense accounting?

[2:02:39] While legal and audited, this also blocks public understanding.

[2:02:45] And back again to 2007, months after we signed our contract, IMEA signed the Prairie State

[2:02:53] Owners Agreement with a confidentiality section which is used to withhold planning and financial

[2:03:00] reports from the public who pay the bills.

[2:03:06] Sure looks to me like IMEA has forgotten about the public and public power and that principle

[2:03:13] of trust but verify.

[2:03:16] It's now 2026.

[2:03:18] We see widespread community concerns and misinformation too.

[2:03:24] We're paying quite a price, both tangible and

[2:03:28] intangible, for IMEA's way of supplying power.

[2:03:33] It's time to seek out options for our neighbor's way.

[2:03:37] Thank you.

[2:03:40] Thank you, next speaker.

[2:03:41] The next speaker is Julie Berkowitz, followed by him and not Argueda.

[2:03:47] Good evening, I serve as a Will County board member and force preserve commissioner for Will County.

[2:03:55] My name is Julie Berkowitz, I live in South Naperville in district 10.

[2:04:01] I come before you tonight as elected officials.

[2:04:06] One of your most important responsibilities is public safety and

[2:04:11] welfare of businesses and the residents that call Naperville home.

[2:04:16] A component of this includes critical energy resources, which allow us to achieve the highest standard of living here in Naperville.

[2:04:26] When my family first moved to Naperville over 30 years ago, the electric grid was strained.

[2:04:34] And there were frequent power outages which unfortunately became a common occurrence.

[2:04:41] The continued growth in Naperville presented many, many challenges for the city.

[2:04:49] And part of that was because of our success in becoming a national destination.

[2:04:56] Since Naperville has joined IMEA, our residents have taken for granted this dependable plentiful

[2:05:05] source of electricity.

[2:05:07] We no longer worry about the lights going out.

[2:05:11] As technology and production processes have advanced, IMEA produces electric power that

[2:05:18] is clean and affordable.

[2:05:21] Why would you choose to leave a partnership that works?

[2:05:24] Naperville is a vested partner in the success of IMEA.

[2:05:30] There's a huge disadvantage to Naperville if we walk away.

[2:05:36] Let me make a few comments, real facts that are occurring.

[2:05:41] There's a lot of talk about sustainable energy, clean energy.

[2:05:46] Let me tell you about how solar facilities are impacting our neighbors here in Illinois.

[2:05:53] In Wilk County, the strain of these solar facilities are creating a heavy burden.

[2:06:03] Nobody wants to live surrounded by a solar facility.

[2:06:08] I know Naperville's very developed and we don't have to worry about it in our backyard.

[2:06:14] But there are neighbors throughout Wilk County.

[2:06:17] And then there are also issues with the materials that are used with the panels.

[2:06:25] So please keep all of this in mind.

[2:06:28] We have a incredible opportunity here to secure the future of our energy and also bring

[2:06:39] affordable and affordable plan for the future.

[2:06:46] Comed, many of the customers are complaining about higher prices, talk to your neighbors

[2:06:53] out there.

[2:06:55] Thank you.

[2:06:56] Thank you.

[2:06:56] The final speaker is Jimina Argueda.

[2:07:04] Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

[2:07:06] My name is Hemena Argueda, and I'm a senior at Bonzi Valley High School, and I volunteer

[2:07:10] in previous intern at Accelerate Climate Solutions.

[2:07:13] This past summer, I was one of the many local youth who came together under the youth-created

[2:07:17] organization power a better future to position to reject the IMEA contract and advocate for

[2:07:23] Naperville to commit to a climate action plan.

[2:07:25] Now I'm here tonight to ask you not to extend the IMEA contract and to instead consider

[2:07:31] how the decision you'll be making tonight will impact the lives of both the current and

[2:07:35] also future residents of Naperville for an extensive period of time.

[2:07:39] This decision will not only affect my generation but also the next to come and that is something

[2:07:44] that is not worth forgetting.

[2:07:46] We need clean energy now, not decades more of coal, especially as the world is moving

[2:07:51] towards alternative solutions to coal in great masses.

[2:07:54] The ability to have and maintain a sustainability run city is in your hands, and I urge you

[2:08:00] to not dismiss this.

[2:08:02] Thank you for your time for hearing the voices of local youth and for considering the future

[2:08:06] generations to come in the April.

[2:08:11] Thank you, are there any more public speakers?

[2:08:13] Seeing none, it is 902.

[2:08:15] We will be back at 9-10. We're going to take a short break. Thank you.

[2:16:19] We're going to go ahead and restart the meeting. If you could take your seats, please.

[2:17:17] Okay, council, public forum is concluded. We can now begin deliberations, councilman Hozerah. Thank you, Mayor. First, I wanted to thank every spingles speaker who came out here tonight. I listened to your comments closely. It took notes. And I can honestly say that I believe that every single speaker who came out here tonight did someone good faith, making good points, you know, believing in

[2:17:43] their cause, and that's something we can be proud of as a community, and it's very different

[2:17:49] than talking on social media to actually come out and face your neighbors on an issue

[2:17:54] like this that says something. This is an issue with a lot of strong opinions, some

[2:18:00] emotions, and honestly it can be easier sometimes to tune out people we don't agree with than

[2:18:07] to try to find some common ground. I'd ask that regardless of whether you think you agree

[2:18:12] with my prior comments on this that you give me a few minutes to share some areas where

[2:18:17] I think we as a community can find common ground. So the first area where I think we can

[2:18:23] find common ground is on a defined term and that term is base load capacity. So anyone

[2:18:31] to my knowledge who is serious about this conversation understands that you have to have

[2:18:37] a stable base load, which means any time of day or night, if electricity use goes up,

[2:18:44] there needs to be something that you can reliably increase the generation of, right?

[2:18:50] So for example, wind will never be the base load, you know, the city, maybe part of it,

[2:18:56] a small part of it is never going to be the base load.

[2:18:59] Fundamentally, for base load capacity, you are talking about purchasing a commodity, whether

[2:19:06] So that is natural gas, it's coal, it could be nuclear, it could be oil, hydro and a few

[2:19:15] others just to name a few, but you are tied to the price of commodity if you're talking

[2:19:21] about base load capacity.

[2:19:25] So I want to laser focus on one issue regarding base load capacity and that is the biggest

[2:19:31] story of the last 26 years in the United States, which has been the relationship between

[2:19:40] the price of natural gas versus coal. So if you go back to the year, the early 2000s,

[2:19:48] this is a time where nobody foresaw the fracking boom that was going to happen in North Dakota,

[2:19:54] nobody foresaw kind of all these new natural gas reserves that we're going to come about.

[2:20:00] So that was the time when Prairie State was being proposed and it was thought that coal

[2:20:06] was going to be a lot cheaper than natural gas.

[2:20:11] In 2010, Naperville is around 70% or above tide to coal.

[2:20:17] So heavily dependent on the price of that commodity and what happens with fracking, with all the

[2:20:24] changes that happen in the energy markets.

[2:20:27] Natural gas rapidly goes down in price.

[2:20:31] And I really want to highlight this

[2:20:33] because during those first years of the IMA contract,

[2:20:39] we paid substantially more in Naperville for our power

[2:20:42] because of the lower price of natural gas in relation to coal.

[2:20:48] And you don't have to just take my word for it.

[2:20:51] I'm not going to read this word for word,

[2:20:52] But if you read a Chicago Tribune article from 2014, at that time, we were paying 16% more in

[2:21:02] Naperville for our power than we were, then I'm sorry, neighboring communities would have been.

[2:21:08] So basically the exact inverse of, you know, the statistic that was cited for last year.

[2:21:13] And I actually want to set aside whether this is because IMEA is great or bad or anything else.

[2:21:18] a lot of it just had to do with the prices of those two commodity.

[2:21:22] Actually, most of it had to do with the prices of those two commodities.

[2:21:26] Now, for most of that time period, gas was beating coal by a lot.

[2:21:33] So the percentage of power in the United States coming from coal drops from like 45% to 15%.

[2:21:40] That's not because of environmental regulation or because people suddenly had a change of heart.

[2:21:45] that's simply cold-hard economics.

[2:21:49] And if you want to take a look at the U.S.

[2:21:52] Energy Information Administration's website,

[2:21:55] they list the wholesale prices of natural gas and coal.

[2:22:02] In 2020, natural gas is going for $2.40 per million BTUs,

[2:22:09] which is substantially lower than what coal is right now.

[2:22:13] What happens right after that though?

[2:22:14] Russia invades Ukraine, which causes this huge, huge shock to the natural gas market

[2:22:20] in the world. Natural gas goes up to $7.21 for what used to be $2.40. So you're seeing

[2:22:27] something triple in just a few years. So yes, I will concede in that time period,

[2:22:32] coal starts to look really attractive compared to natural gas. But to me, this is why you diversify.

[2:22:39] By this one of order, Mayor, Councilman Hall's hours had four minutes.

[2:22:46] Point will take, and there's a three minute limit.

[2:22:50] Okay, is that going to be enforced across the board?

[2:22:54] That would be enforced across the board.

[2:22:56] Okay, then I'll just wrap it up, Councilman.

[2:22:59] Okay, I'll conclude these comments by saying the 70% bet on one commodity.

[2:23:10] is a gamble to me. That is not by any means a diversified portfolio. We asked for guarantees. There would be more diversification.

[2:23:21] That was not given. And I understand I've gone to five minutes. I will be keeping track of how long everyone else talks to make sure we're equal. Thank you, Mayor.

[2:23:30] Thank you.

[2:23:33] Any other council comments?

[2:23:40] Council Member Bloom.

[2:23:42] Thank you, Mayor.

[2:23:47] So, you know, we all have full-time jobs, we're part-time city council members.

[2:23:54] We hired experts, industry experts to advise us on our options and, you know, Councilman

[2:24:01] Hulsauer, I'll do respect. You're not an expert. I'm not an expert.

[2:24:05] I could argue I've probably put more hours into this than most of my colleagues up here I'm not an expert on it

[2:24:11] So appreciate the commentary. I think we should be listened to to our paid experts

[2:24:16] So one comment about a particular speaker tonight Mr. Doyle. I appreciate it the honesty and I just we there so much of this

[2:24:25] Conversation has has not been honest and and he actually gave us some great honesty

[2:24:31] mentioned that in the election, the individuals who had the least priority put on cost of energy

[2:24:39] got the most votes. I think that's probably true. And then the candidates that put the highest

[2:24:45] priority on cost lost their election. And so, and then he inferred that this vote should be

[2:24:52] political. So out of the 12% of people that vote in town, a majority of those voted for higher

[2:24:58] or energy costs, and so that's how the vote should end up being.

[2:25:03] So if I think what's going to happen tonight is going to happen, I just want you to know

[2:25:08] the opposite is happening, okay?

[2:25:10] So with renewal of the IMEA contract, we have an MDR option.

[2:25:15] We have the quotes on carbon-free energy for 20% of our peak load, which is 50% of our total

[2:25:20] load.

[2:25:21] They're confidential.

[2:25:23] I'm just going to tell you, they're substantially higher.

[2:25:24] So, Council tonight has the opportunity to add carbon free resources to our portfolio

[2:25:35] and raise everybody's rate.

[2:25:38] So, that option's available tonight.

[2:25:40] I don't know if that's going to happen.

[2:25:41] We'll see.

[2:25:42] So, you know, I think a motion's going to happen.

[2:25:47] I'll have an opportunity to kind of chime in on what I think should be taken place.

[2:25:51] But I do think that we've seen a little bit of a shift in education.

[2:25:56] I think that a lot of what I think is propaganda that has been put out has been debunked.

[2:26:03] And, you know, somebody mentioned the MDR doesn't reduce carbon emissions.

[2:26:09] The other thing that doesn't reduce carbon emissions is us leaving IMEA.

[2:26:13] So I think people are starting to understand how the grid works.

[2:26:16] and so I'll save my rest of my comments for further discussion when there's a motion here.

[2:26:24] Councilman Wilson. Thank you, Mayor. I guess a quick thing,

[2:26:31] JC's does a snow-shoveling program. A guy's shovel snow for is homebound. One of the things he

[2:26:37] had massaged me about was his concern for, so I can't come to council meetings but please vote

[2:26:45] to stay in IMEA I'm homebound I'm on a fixed income limited resources cost

[2:26:52] is important to me.

[2:26:55] The other one I guess would be directed at Joe Haas comparing

[2:26:58] the $35 megawatt hour I presume that slides for me because he had emailed me

[2:27:04] asking where I got that number from. Nestering some of their presentations gives

[2:27:09] site's Lazard when they presented directly in Lazard have it in front of me happy to share it later

[2:27:18] the cost of generation when IMEA came here to speak to us that it was 30 between 30 and $35.

[2:27:28] This aligns with what Lazard has for existing coal builds where I get that number from is

[2:27:36] the production expenses divided by how much energy is produced looked at another

[2:27:44] example from Sherborn County which is public available data filed in FERC. That

[2:27:54] similarly is $29.91 megawatt an hour.

[2:28:02] So this aligns well. I'd be happy to cite

[2:28:03] other sources other counties which do cold generation. The problem with their

[2:28:08] analysis is that they include things like transmission costs.

[2:28:14] Which it doesn't

[2:28:15] make sense to do that because they vary and they're out of our control.

[2:28:20] With

[2:28:21] the with the MDR we would get Rex it's physically impossible to get unless you're

[2:28:27] not living on the grid for those that aren't aware it's physically impossible to

[2:28:32] get directed energy from a solar field, for example, to us because we get energy from

[2:28:42] the grid.

[2:28:44] And then I guess circling back to folks that say we're a wealthy community,

[2:28:50] we can afford it, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, feel free to subsidize those that are

[2:28:56] increase costs. So those are my comments. Thank you, Mayor.

[2:29:04] Thank you, Councilman Kelly.

[2:29:06] Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate everybody coming out. It's been a long road like

[2:29:11] Maryland mentioned. This has been six, seven, eight years in the making to get to this point.

[2:29:17] A lot of us have talked a lot about it. I've had comments in the past already. I don't really feel

[2:29:22] the need to regurgitate everything, but I took some notes while some of the speakers presented

[2:29:26] tonight and just want to hit a few high level points as to why I'm thinking the way that I'm thinking

[2:29:31] tonight and I kind of categorize some of the things that we know for certain, some things we don't

[2:29:37] know for certain looking back and looking forward. Some things that we know I think that we can all

[2:29:44] agree on with certainty is that the kind and probably everybody in this room knows it but just for

[2:29:48] the public who might be watching the contract we are currently in has nine more years on it no

[2:29:54] no matter what we do tonight, that's locked in,

[2:29:56] nothing's gonna change in terms of source

[2:29:58] or in terms of cost of cost.

[2:30:00] The cost might go up or down, depending on certain factors, but it's not going to be a result of any council vote tonight that cost won't be impacted. The reliability also is not going to change quite frankly for the next nine years or beyond that when we talk about turning on the lights, making sure the power comes on. That's a result of our municipally owned electric utility and PJM grid operator, not a result of where we buy our electrons from, whether that's IMEA or somewhere else.

[2:30:27] What we don't know about, in my

[2:30:29] opinion, some important things that

[2:30:31] we still don't know are the source

[2:30:33] or cost of IMEA's energy post-2035.

[2:30:36] It's not in the contract.

[2:30:37] We all know that.

[2:30:40] Any future potential bonds we've

[2:30:42] heard talk about, well, the bonds

[2:30:43] will be paid off for the coal plant.

[2:30:45] That's probably true, but we don't

[2:30:47] know what will come after that.

[2:30:48] Either there could be carbon capture

[2:30:50] we heard a reference to.

[2:30:51] That would be a billion dollar

[2:30:52] project, at least.

[2:30:54] Or if the coal plant does get decommissioned, they'll have to do something new.

[2:30:59] There'll have to be some generation, right?

[2:31:00] So it's not as if the costs are just going to go away.

[2:31:03] Siege may remain in place, it may not.

[2:31:06] It may be modified, it may be sped up, it may be delayed.

[2:31:09] We'll have at least one new president before this contract comes up.

[2:31:13] New technologies may come in, supply and demand might change.

[2:31:17] We've heard a lot, just recently, obviously the data center here in Naperville.

[2:31:20] So the prevailing theory is demand is going to spike, supply is going to have a hard time

[2:31:26] keeping up.

[2:31:28] And we don't know that for sure, right?

[2:31:29] The chips may change.

[2:31:30] I listen to an interview on Bloomberg today with an utilities analyst who had the contrarian

[2:31:35] view that demand is actually going to fire out, demand will, I'm sorry, supply will outweigh

[2:31:43] demand over the next 10 years for a variety of factors.

[2:31:46] If you just look at the math of projects in the grid coming up versus what data centers

[2:31:50] are actually going to need. We don't really don't. Looking back, you know, Councilman

[2:31:56] Holsauer still some of my comments about entering into this contract when it first

[2:32:00] happened. Natural gas was volatile felt like a lot of risk. I understand why it was

[2:32:04] done. Nuclear was not an option. Now nuclear is an option. Things have changed in

[2:32:08] that regard. I think over the life of the contract, it's pretty clear IMEA was

[2:32:13] more expensive. Right now, I think it's pretty clear IMEA is a little cheaper.

[2:32:17] It just seems to change over time we don't know how that's going to play out over the next 10 years let alone after 10 years 20 years after that

[2:32:25] So I try to figure out where am I going to be looking forward

[2:32:28] Knowing that in my opinion any prediction has to cost in 2035 you've got to take that with a very large grain of sand

[2:32:34] If anybody is very certain telling you it's going to be cheaper or more expensive

[2:32:39] I I just I don't really believe it to be quite honest. I don't think anybody really knows

[2:32:44] We are going to have exposure to the market if we're just an IMEA or if we just buy from the market.

[2:32:50] An alternative is power market, third-party power marketers, that would be a set price that locks it in.

[2:32:59] So, last point in terms of looking forward, NDR, we've had conversation about that something I'm very interested in.

[2:33:05] That's why I was interested in the compromise, I credit the mayor for trying to go down that road.

[2:33:10] My concern is the full requirement nature of the contract.

[2:33:14] To me, it makes MDR really nothing more than a very expensive and glorified wreck, which I don't love.

[2:33:21] If I may as listening for myself, I would be interested in continuing to talk if they were willing to modify that full requirement nature so that we could actually purchase third-party power and not just have it as a credit on our bill.

[2:33:36] I don't know that the rest of the council is there through conversations that I've had.

[2:33:41] And so I don't think we have a really cohesive coherent Councilman, you can wrap it up.

[2:33:45] I will wrap it up, yeah.

[2:33:47] Position.

[2:33:48] And so I don't really see how we can direct staff to negotiate to the agenda item.

[2:33:54] I've got a motion I could make mayor.

[2:33:55] I don't know if you want that now or later.

[2:33:57] Sure.

[2:33:59] So I can get into more detail if there's more conversation.

[2:34:02] but I think where I'm at I hope is clear and if things do change from a staff perspective

[2:34:08] with IMEA I hope you bring it to us and we have that conversation but at this point I would move

[2:34:13] to direct city staff to pause formal negotiations with IMEA regarding a contract extension and less

[2:34:19] a majority of city council members direct staff to re-engage in such negotiations. Is there a second?

[2:34:24] second. Second, old tower. Motion and second discussion and Councilwoman Gibson.

[2:34:32] Yes, thank you mayor. I want to take a minute to acknowledge that this is a

[2:34:36] really complicated issue and to echo Councilman Hall's Howard's points. I really

[2:34:40] appreciate everybody who came out on all sides of the discussion.

[2:34:46] It's very

[2:34:46] important to our day-to-day life here in Naperville that our lights turn on and a

[2:34:52] A big part of that is thanks to our Napro electric utility,

[2:34:56] Director Garoth and his team.

[2:34:57] We're really lucky to have a reliable city-owned electric utility.

[2:35:03] But where we're buying our actual electricity from?

[2:35:06] There's a lot of decisions we need to wake carefully,

[2:35:09] cost, environmental sustainability,

[2:35:11] reliability, long-term risk,

[2:35:14] and the flexibility in a rapidly changing market

[2:35:17] to choose what's best for our city.

[2:35:20] And, again, reasonable people can disagree on how much weight we should put on to each of

[2:35:25] those factors.

[2:35:26] And that's why it's important we have these discussions up here in our community, the

[2:35:30] public comments, and that we respectfully have these discussions.

[2:35:34] And I recognize I, you know, I know all of my colleagues have spent a lot of time on this.

[2:35:38] I'm not going to sit here and say I've spent more, I've spent less.

[2:35:41] I think, you know, as leaders in our community, we have an obligation to respectfully discuss

[2:35:47] this and listen to each other's points of view and not disparage people who just might put

[2:35:53] different weight on different aspects of this decision. So for me, the central question has been

[2:35:59] whether it's prudent to make this decades-long commitment for our city before our needs,

[2:36:04] Naperville's needs, dictate that we make this decision and tie our hands for the next three years.

[2:36:09] I understand why IMEA wants us to make a decision.

[2:36:16] I appreciate the efforts by both IMEA and our Naperville staff to see if we could come

[2:36:22] to an agreement where IMEA can get the certainty they're looking for and Naperville would

[2:36:28] get concessions or parts of an agreement that would make it worth our while to commit this

[2:36:35] soon to commit energy contract with IMEA through 2055.

[2:36:41] But regardless of IMEA's needs in this situation, my obligation is to the people of Naperville

[2:36:48] and I just don't think we've got into that point with the contract negotiations.

[2:36:52] The contract has no cost guarantees, no early termination clauses, no flexibility in return

[2:36:58] terms of the full requirements clause.

[2:37:01] And I think we are in a rapidly changing market.

[2:37:04] And if Naperville's needs don't dictate that we make this long-term decision now,

[2:37:11] we should wait until those needs dictate that we start looking at our future options.

[2:37:16] I think our community deserves a plan.

[2:37:18] It deserves a thorough exploration of all the opportunities, not one that's dominated by one option.

[2:37:24] And for those reasons, I think we should pause.

[2:37:27] I agree with Councilman Kelly's motion.

[2:37:30] I think we'll look to staff over the coming years.

[2:37:32] the Q&A had some answers on the timeline we're looking at.

[2:37:36] But I think this discussion should be done in a thorough way that explores all our opportunities on a timeline that makes sense for us, the people of Naperville.

[2:37:45] Thank you.

[2:37:48] My experience, I've learned that negotiation and patience and compromise aren't signs of weakness or how you get lasting, meaningful results when you have a strong bargaining position.

[2:37:59] And I don't see what we gain by walking away now.

[2:38:02] Now, if we stop negotiations or discussions, let's just talk about discussions with IMEA.

[2:38:08] We effectively lock ourselves and future councils into our current generation mix and cost

[2:38:14] structure for nearly the next decade with no possibility of a change.

[2:38:18] That limits Naperville's ability to reduce costs, adopt cleaner technology and respond to

[2:38:24] a rapidly changing energy landscape.

[2:38:26] That's just the simple truth, folks.

[2:38:27] There's been a lot of discussion about issuing an RFP and bidding out the role of IMEA considering the size of the contract that would likely occur in 2029.

[2:38:37] At a time when the recent Illinois Power Agency study just released back on December 15th said that the PGM interconnection is expected to see a capacity shortfall.

[2:38:49] We're in that PGM zone hoping we have responsive bidders to an RFP during that time could be very difficult.

[2:38:57] Just take, for example, the recent RFP for a carbon-free member-directed resource as well as RFP we

[2:39:03] issued was much smaller than a full requirements power supply contract. The results were disappointing.

[2:39:11] 552 companies received our RFP broadcast only 34 of them actually downloaded the RFP

[2:39:17] and of those only four tended responses with one that was truly responsive to the requirements

[2:39:23] in the RFP and each of those carbon free proposals would increase our electric rates potentially

[2:39:30] by a significant percentage if they were rolled out today.

[2:39:34] That's a real example of an RFP process in the energy space for a top ranked triple A bonded city.

[2:39:42] Hope is not a strategy, options are.

[2:39:47] If there were an easy path where everyone got a win we would have taken it long ago but there isn't an easy solution to this.

[2:39:52] I sincerely believe in the progress we've seen since my counter-proposal for negotiation

[2:39:57] with IMEA was approved by a 7-2 vote from this council several months ago, and the rapid

[2:40:02] evolution in our nation's energy grid and infrastructure that Naperville is best off

[2:40:06] by retaining optionality and flexibility, those things we lose when we rush to achieve an

[2:40:12] outcome.

[2:40:13] That's why I will vote to continue our city's conversations with the IMEA.

[2:40:18] We can and should work to achieve compromises at strength in our community make no mistake

[2:40:23] This is not an ask to actively bargain to last and final or impasse

[2:40:27] But rather just keep the discussions open knowing that our conversations have netted progress

[2:40:33] And maybe will even net more progress over time

[2:40:38] By keeping those conversations open and working in good faith we can keep fighting for real change and outcomes that's securely

[2:40:44] affordability, secure affordability, and our local economy, improved environmental sustainability,

[2:40:50] and maintain the high reliability our electric utility is known for, that families and businesses rely on.

[2:40:56] The best way to achieve the balanced resolution of affordability, reliability, and sustainability is to keep working at it.

[2:41:02] And not to close the door on a decision that affects our largest operational cost for the next decade.

[2:41:09] I'll always work to improve this city.

[2:41:12] I always stand up for the families and businesses who trust us to secure the best possible deal on their behalf

[2:41:19] Councilman McBrune

[2:41:21] Thank you mayor

[2:41:23] You know, I appreciate

[2:41:26] Council McKellys kind of softening the language of the agenda item and kind of softening the posture of this a lot of what this conversation has been

[2:41:37] You know when you understand markets and you understand how the grid works

[2:41:42] works. We don't, we're not in a leveraged position. The IMEA members, and we pretend like

[2:41:50] there's some big company that's coming after us trying to get our business. These are

[2:41:54] communities that we've been in business with for a long time, who are asking us if we

[2:41:59] want to have a seat at the table during a seismic shift and renewables and commitments

[2:42:06] to get to net zero in 2050.

[2:42:09] I've heard people call IMEA attorney salesmen.

[2:42:13] There's been accusations of deception.

[2:42:17] And so I do have a real concern

[2:42:19] that we're teetering on burning a bridge.

[2:42:22] If I was one of one of these communities

[2:42:24] and I saw some of these meetings,

[2:42:26] I might tell Naperville to go pound sand.

[2:42:29] They certainly have a financial incentive to do so.

[2:42:33] But, you know, we got a letter from Kevin Gaden, who's retiring soon from IMEA,

[2:42:39] Super Professional.

[2:42:41] I mean, I think that the employees who are our employees, they work for us.

[2:42:46] I think they're professional, and I think that they are going to continue to serve our needs.

[2:42:52] Even if we tell them that we're not going to work with them in the future, they made a commitment to us.

[2:42:56] So, you know, I do think the motion, however,

[2:43:01] is a kick the can a little bit.

[2:43:04] You know, you guys all read the same information

[2:43:05] we did, energy shortages are coming in 2009, 2030.

[2:43:11] That's the position that has been suggested

[2:43:13] or has been suggested, is that we go to market at that time.

[2:43:17] We start looking for another provider,

[2:43:20] a for-profit entity during an energy shortage.

[2:43:29] But I do think we've benefited a little bit from community education and if this goes

[2:43:34] on longer, I think people just get more educated, so I'm kind of inclined to support the

[2:43:38] pause.

[2:43:40] But, you know, mayor, your statement, you're 100% right, you're 100% right.

[2:43:45] We should continue the relationship, the conversations.

[2:43:49] So you kind of flip me back to, I don't think I'm going to support the pause, but I do appreciate

[2:43:54] the softening of the language there and we'll see what happens so thanks. Councilman Wilson second round.

[2:44:04] Turn your microphone off. There we go thank you. To Councilman Kelly's motion I was

[2:44:10] wondering if you'd be open to I don't know what the right phrase amending this to perhaps holding

[2:44:20] off on this vote until we heard from I guess another stakeholder that being IMEA and I say that

[2:44:30] because we've heard from a lot of stakeholders. We've got an email from residents folks here that

[2:44:36] want to continue with IMEA from heard folks from NUS at PUAB board meetings. We've heard from various

[2:44:44] consultants but the one entity I guess you could say that we haven't heard from

[2:44:51] publicly is IME itself the one we're negotiating. So I wanted to see if you'd be

[2:44:57] open to amending that motion.

[2:45:00] And to, I guess holding off, I don't know what the right term here would be until we've heard from IMEA.

[2:45:13] Councilman Kelly? Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate the thought, but I would say no. I would not want to change the motion to account for that. To the mayor's point, I think certainly there will be conversations. I think there has to be conversations. We work with them. Our electric utility director is the vice president of IMEA.

[2:45:32] he's down there for the board meetings. They will be in communication. And part of the point of

[2:45:38] the motion, the end of it certainly was that if a majority of city council members direct staff

[2:45:43] otherwise we can bring this back at any moment in time. So my expectation is there will be some

[2:45:48] conversations. If staff thinks there's a material change in an IMEA's position I would hope they

[2:45:54] would bring that to us whether that's Friday confidential managers, remember random whatever the

[2:45:58] format might be, and if staff gathers from council that there might be an opening to

[2:46:03] having a more formal negotiation, all for it, but I don't think I want to just leave

[2:46:08] it open-ended and who knows when they're going to come what that would look like.

[2:46:12] I think for all the meetings we've had we need a little bit of a resolution at this point

[2:46:19] in time, not that it has to be final, final, final, but I don't want to leave it open more

[2:46:24] tonight.

[2:46:24] So appreciate the thought, but I would like to keep the motion as it is.

[2:46:30] Councilwoman Gibson, second round.

[2:46:32] Yes, thank you.

[2:46:33] I just want to clarify.

[2:46:34] I mean, maybe this is a question from Mr. Krieger.

[2:46:37] But I don't want the public to think we haven't been talking with IMEA.

[2:46:42] You know, we've in this body had a 7-2 vote to give IMEA a list of, you know, the 10 things that are important to us.

[2:46:50] an IME, IMEA did respond. That is in the packet. It's not like IMEA has been excluded

[2:46:56] from this discussion. We've had plenty of rounds of contract negotiations with them.

[2:47:01] And I think that's why we've given our list of what we would like to see that would make

[2:47:06] it worth our while to renew early. IMEA said, you know, some of these we can somewhat meet,

[2:47:12] some of these we can meet, some of these we definitely can't meet. And that is why I think

[2:47:16] now is the appropriate time to say all right we talked we tried to see if we could come to common

[2:47:21] terms we don't think we're there so we're going to make decisions based on a timeline appropriate for

[2:47:28] our needs.

[2:47:33] Councilman Hozar second round thank you mayor I'll make this really quickly just as a second

[2:47:36] on the motion. I do want to make it clear you know I don't agree with the framing of Councilman

[2:47:45] and Kelly's motion that it's softening anything.

[2:47:50] IMEA said no to neighborhood requirements.

[2:47:52] Okay, I want to be really clear about that.

[2:47:54] They said it publicly, they did not agree with the terms

[2:47:58] that neighborhood sent out.

[2:48:00] We are taking that and saying we want to explore

[2:48:02] other options, okay?

[2:48:04] I want to be clear about that signal.

[2:48:06] I do not envision this being a sole source procurement

[2:48:10] where we continue for another six months or a year

[2:48:13] with the assumption that this is the one entity

[2:48:15] we're negotiating with, so I'm just putting that out there. Thank you, Mayor.

[2:48:19] Councilman Sajad. Thank you, Mayor.

[2:48:26] I'm so happy to see you all so engaged, committed, so passionate about IMMA.

[2:48:33] I met a lot of people in last four years talking about IMMA at POAB meetings,

[2:48:40] meetings, city council meetings, and also at different events.

[2:48:46] In the last four years, I really have learned about IMEA, thanks to you all, the people

[2:48:51] who are supporting and the people who are opposing, thanks to everyone, because you have that

[2:48:57] passion, and you have taught me a lot of things about IMEA, and thank you to you all, first

[2:49:04] thing.

[2:49:04] I have a question for Director, Director, how long we have been negotiating with IMEA?

[2:49:14] Director Growth.

[2:49:15] Director Growth Electric Utility Director, we received the offer from IMEA in February

[2:49:20] of 2024, and at the Direction of Council we began negotiating with IMEA in August of this

[2:49:27] year.

[2:49:28] Yeah, so thank you so much.

[2:49:30] So, since 2024 we have been talking about IME, we have been discussing issues plus minus

[2:49:38] everything what we have been talking about, but we have not moved an inch to take a decision.

[2:49:45] How long we will continue talking about this thing?

[2:49:48] And for me, it looks like we are doing a lip service.

[2:49:52] We are not justifying ourselves as city council members, as staff, as community.

[2:49:57] We need to take some decisions.

[2:49:59] Maybe it is hard, some tough decisions, and that's what you know,

[2:50:03] neighbor is famous for, that we take very hard decisions, tough decisions,

[2:50:08] and others follow us.

[2:50:10] So, in last four years, I have attended many workshops, meetings,

[2:50:16] and all those things, you know.

[2:50:18] And I made up my mind that today we need to take a decision.

[2:50:22] If we extend, then again for next one year, two years,

[2:50:27] three years will continue and we have got time today, nine years till we have

[2:50:32] got, we are not shutting down the doors, still director will be representing us

[2:50:37] and we are part of the IME as of now but my only concern is that without

[2:50:43] looking for any other options, why are we getting into IME right now? So as a

[2:50:49] person, I want options. See, if I don't like something, I will look for next option

[2:50:55] and second, third, fourth option.

[2:50:57] Can we work together to get that options

[2:51:00] and take decision, what is best for Niperville,

[2:51:03] best for community?

[2:51:04] So I will be supporting Councilman Kelly's motion

[2:51:09] so that we can look for different options

[2:51:11] and then come to a conclusion so that we take care

[2:51:14] of the community as well as city.

[2:51:17] Thank you.

[2:51:21] Councilor Boyle.

[2:51:24] Thank you, Mayor.

[2:51:25] And I want to just thank everyone

[2:51:26] one who came out to speak tonight, and also want to thank the many volunteers who have given their personal time and pursuit of the best solution for our community.

[2:51:37] Our residents on the PUA B Commission and the Nest Task Force and other community organizations have spent countless hours working through these issues to present a thoughtful input and also good recommendations.

[2:51:53] Additionally, our city staff has endured many questions I know you have, and quite frankly

[2:51:59] at times a lack of direction from the council, but I appreciate the patience you all have

[2:52:04] shown throughout this process as well.

[2:52:07] At the end of the day, I believe we share the same goal that is providing our community

[2:52:13] with power that's efficient, environmentally responsible, reliable, and affordable.

[2:52:18] Since this process began, we have been inundated with data, opinions and forecast projecting 20 to 30 years into the future.

[2:52:30] Even the most seasoned experts struggle to predict conditions that far out.

[2:52:36] That's why I returned to a fundamental principle.

[2:52:39] When the city makes major purchases exceeding whatever the threshold might be,

[2:52:44] We see competitive pricing, safety, quality, and value.

[2:52:51] We are discussing a multi-billion dollar contract.

[2:52:57] Think about that, a multi-billion dollar contract that could extend all the way out through 2050.

[2:53:04] One that could effectively lock us in and limit our flexibility to respond to future market changes.

[2:53:12] in a decision of this magnitude, I believe it is essential that we follow our standard procurement

[2:53:19] practices. In my opinion, we should issue an RFP and an RFQ to identify the most responsible

[2:53:28] and cost effective providers capable of supplying power to our community. This process should be

[2:53:36] open to multiple organizations, including IMEA, if they choose to participate as well.

[2:53:44] But before we do that, I think it's important that we define what our priorities are,

[2:53:50] and we do come up with a strategy for our energy.

[2:53:55] I appreciate Mr. Stark's recommendation as far as having our director lead the discussion

[2:54:06] and as far as developing that strategy,

[2:54:09] I think that's a pretty good idea.

[2:54:11] However, I do think we're probably a few years early,

[2:54:14] given what I've spoken to other council members,

[2:54:17] as well as staff, that we probably are mayor

[2:54:21] and others have said it.

[2:54:22] Probably about 2029 or so in those discussions,

[2:54:26] probably need to take place.

[2:54:27] If we do it too soon, the technology,

[2:54:30] the good chance of it will change.

[2:54:32] We see how things are changing so quickly in this market.

[2:54:35] So that's kind of where I'm landing with this.

[2:54:38] I appreciate all the great discussion and the passion

[2:54:42] that everyone in this room, including those up here

[2:54:45] on the diets have shown so that we can get

[2:54:48] the best decision for our community.

[2:54:50] Thank you.

[2:54:51] Councilman Jane.

[2:54:52] Thank you, Mayor.

[2:54:54] Just a question to kind of reiterate and clarify

[2:54:58] what has been alluded to as the year 2029.

[2:55:01] I know this question was posed on the Q&A,

[2:55:04] But if I could direct a question to Director Grah about how that number was calculated and is that a hard number should you should you monitor trends and feel concerned that it may be going in a direction where you know prices are much higher might you be able to might you suggest that we should start looking earlier could that scenario play out Director growth.

[2:55:35] Brian growth electric utility director addressing the two items in the Q&A one is the state

[2:55:40] mandated integrated resource planning that IMEA has to begin they will likely start

[2:55:46] that this year it will take probably a year or two years to get through that process and

[2:55:51] that talks about how they will serve their load through 2035 at this point they do not

[2:55:56] have a contract from neighborhood or st. Charles so they will not plan for that load past

[2:56:01] September 30th, 2035, which is their contractual obligation.

[2:56:05] The second part of that, and IMEA is looking into this right now, is the pseudotide.

[2:56:09] So Prairie State is financially tied to PJM to serve load up here, primarily when that

[2:56:16] cost St. Charles, Naperville, and that is a financial instrument that allows them to bid Prairie

[2:56:23] State into the PJM market, even though it's located in MISO.

[2:56:26] And so if Naperville is not with IMEA, they do not need that pseudotai, and they would

[2:56:34] look to break that pseudotai.

[2:56:36] It's not exactly clear as to what timeline is.

[2:56:39] I've heard six to seven years be thrown around, but that's not based in anything other than

[2:56:44] what people remember when they got the pseudotais in place to serve us.

[2:56:48] So I expect IMEA will be looking into some more exact time frames around hard decisions

[2:56:55] that will have to make about what they can serve the load or not, and some of those decisions

[2:56:59] are irreversible.

[2:57:00] And what about the timeline for us if we were to look for alternative options?

[2:57:06] When would that actively need to take place?

[2:57:10] Certainly.

[2:57:12] Wide range of options as outlined by CES, some options, for example, building our own generation

[2:57:19] met with a couple of generators, builders.

[2:57:23] I know Waterloo, one of the IMEA member towns, put it in a natural gas turbine.

[2:57:29] They were about an eight year lead time.

[2:57:32] So building our own resources is probably an eight to ten year horizon.

[2:57:37] Contracting with the power marketer is probably one to two years.

[2:57:40] The indications that they've given us in our conversations is probably on the shorter side.

[2:57:46] In there is staffing up and performing the functions that IMEA does for us.

[2:57:51] Obviously staffing takes time, getting people on board,

[2:57:55] you know, doing regression testing to the market where the trades right was the execution, you know, financially responsible.

[2:58:02] So I would say anywhere from 8 to 10 years, all the way up to two years.

[2:58:07] Okay, thank you. Thank you, Director.

[2:58:08] I asked this question because I think that timeline contextualizes the pause.

[2:58:15] like what you know what do we mean by the pause and how long do we hold the pause and then

[2:58:21] will staff be alerting us to a point where council will need to perhaps by majority bring the

[2:58:28] discussion back I think those are some logistical questions that I that I have on on the process but

[2:58:33] I also believe part of there's a part of the discussion that may not have touched on costs

[2:58:41] with ongoing discussion meaning the time it's taking our staff to keep engaging in these discussion hasn't been something that's been referred to I think the pause allows us to let it sit for a little bit and then possibly look at alternative options and bring it back in a more timely, timely fashion.

[2:59:05] So it's just just a few points that I wanted to bring up.

[2:59:11] Councilman Kelly do you want to repeat your motion actually you've hit your third so you've

[2:59:19] exceeded your

[2:59:21] councilman Kelly repeat your motion.

[2:59:24] I move to direct city staff to pause formal negotiations with IMEA regarding a contract

[2:59:32] extension and less a majority of city council members direct staff to re-engage in such

[2:59:37] negotiations. Okay, we have a motion and a second roll call.

[2:59:41] Holds our aye.

[2:59:43] Jane. Yes. Kelly. Aye. McBrown. No. Say it. Aye.

[2:59:49] White. Aye. Wilson. No. Morley. No. Gibson. Aye. Motion passes 6-3.

[3:00:02] Final item tonight is new business, as a reminder, new business is for items this council is asking staff to bring on a future agenda for motions to reconsider or for motions to reconsider, past city council votes. Do any council members have any item for new business? Seeing none may have a motion to adjourn, Councilman White. Motion to adjourn. Councilman Kelly. Second Kelly. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? We are adjourned.

[3:00:25] Alright.

[3:00:31] Commit it.

[3:00:32] What is it?

[3:00:33] What is it?

[3:00:34] What is it?

[3:00:35] What

[3:00:39] is it?

City Council on 2026-02-03 7:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript