Naperville, Illinois owns the electric utility that distributes power to almost all properties in Naperville.  Naperville buys almost 90% of that power from plants burning carbon, mostly coal.  And it does not allow its customers to connect solar panels to their electric service if the energy from the panels is purchased from a third party.

Please sign this petition to tell the Naperville City Council to switch its electric utility to clean energy  and permit its electric customers to buy solar energy generated on their own property. 

Below is an explanation why this petition is necessary.

Naperville Electric Utility.  Generating the power purchased by Naperville to sell to its customers emits more than two billion pounds of CO2 greenhouse gasses[1] every year plus mercury and other toxins.  These emissions accelerate climate change and harm people and the environment. However, Naperville does not feel the harm caused by the coal plants because they are hundreds of miles away from the Naperville community.  The Prairie State and Trimble County coal plants, which Naperville purchases power from, collectively emit more than 40 billion pounds of CO2 every year[2] – the equivalent of burning 2 billion gallons of gas[3].      

Naperville Electric Customers.  Naperville prevents its customers from using solar panels on their property unless the solar system is owned by the customer or not connected to the grid. It does this by prohibiting power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar systems connected to the grid[4], which is really the only way to use a solar system because without a grid connection the customer will not have power when the solar system is not providing it. 

PPAs are contracts between an electric customer and a solar vendor. The vendor owns the panels and the customer pays for the electricity coming from the panels.[5] PPAs are very popular because they allow customers to have a solar system with little or no upfront payment and the monthly payments are about the same as their regular electric service. Preventing customers from using PPAs restricts solar panels in Naperville to only those customers who are able and willing to buy their own solar systems. 

The restriction on PPAs means that the overwhelming majority of customers in Naperville will probably never have solar panels and therefore cannot directly reduce the damage caused by burning carbon for their electricity. The inability to use PPAs prevents the use of community solar (multiple customers sharing a single solar system), including the Illinois Shines community solar program[6], and also prevents most low-income residents from participating in the Illinois Solar For All program[7]. In addition, the PPA restriction effectively denies schools and nonprofits the opportunity to have on-site solar systems because PPAs are necessary for the cost of a system to be reduced by the federal renewable energy tax credit (26% in 2020[8]). These organizations cannot use tax credits, but with a PPA the solar vendor can use the tax credit to reduce the cost.

Naperville’s ban on PPAs is not the norm.  Most electric customers in Illinois, including those served by ComEd and Ameren, can use PPAs. But Naperville has chosen to protect its monopoly right to be the exclusive power provider rather than give its customers the choice to get solar energy from another provider.   

Your signature on this petition will call upon Naperville city leaders to serve the needs of its customers rather than fossil fuel suppliers. To learn more about the barriers to clean energy in Naperville and how you can get more involved, please visit www.cleanenergynaperville.org Thank you!

[1] 1,335,884 MWh x 1800 lbs CO2 (73% coal and 17% gas) = 2,404,591,200
[2] https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/emissions/ (Prairie State is the largest power plant emitter of CO2 in IL)
[3] https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/contentIncludes/co2_inc.htm
[4] https://www.naperville.il.us/globalassets/media/projects/electric/solar-compliance-form-2019.pdf
[5] https://illinoissolar.org/resources/Pictures/PPA%20one-pager.jpg
[6] https://illinoisshines.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Illinois-Shines-Community-Solar-Brochure.pdf
[7] https://www.illinoissfa.com/
[8] https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/01/f70/Guide%20to%20Federal%20Tax%20Credit%20for%20Residential%20Solar%20PV.pdf