After Ottawa City Hall shopped around for residential electric rates this year, it decided to stick with Ameren. Since voters approved an electric aggregation or bulk-buying electric rate program eight years ago, the city has sought bids from third party providers. Commissioner Wayne Eichelkraut says the best deal this year is from Ameren.
A letter went out last week explaining it to the city’s residential electric customers who haven’t opted out of the bulk-buying program. Eichelkraut says you’re still free to shop around for your own rate, but he doesn’t believe you’ll get a better deal. He says those companies make a lot of promises to individuals, but a lot of those customers end up paying more.