SE Illinois News

The Fairfield Village Board heard a report about the village's continuing relationship with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA) in Springfield during the board's meeting on April 25.

Alderman Tyler Lampley explained to the board that Fairfield has always purchased its electric power from IMEA, although they get all of their servicing and maintenance done by Wayne-White County. IMEA services many communities across the state. “They are kind of think of kind of like a co-op with many cities - they pool their resources.” 

Lampley explained that the village has a 30-year contract with IMEA, which runs from 2005 to 2035. In looking at the agreement, Lampley said, the city staff found the contract had a clause for it to automatically renew before it runs out, but the village decided to give notice to IMEA that it wants to opt out of that agreement.

"The basis of this is just saying we don't want to auto-renew with them to extend their contract any further," he told the board. "It's not saying that we are ending anything with I mean, we're done with them until 2035, but it allows us to review options with everything at hand."

Opting out of the automatic renewal clause doesn't mean the village can't sign a new deal with IMEA, Lampley said but added that they will have the chance to review offers from other providers as well when the time comes. Lampley said the decision to opt out of the contract came at the recommendation of the village legal counsel.

Lampley explained by saying, “We don't know what the world will be like in 2035.” Other board members agreed that with the current market of utilities and power, and the potential of other mines or companies to be shut down or shift owners in the next few years, caution was the best course of action.