IMEA is a nonprofit municipal joint action agency that has powered Winnetka since 1991. Winnetka also holds a seat on the IMEA board, giving the Village a direct voice in its power supply.

According to Village documents, IMEA acquires power and energy through an IMEA-owned plant and other power generating entities and uses energy from the Village’s electrical plant and 31 other municipal generation operations. The output of Winnetka’s plant is dedicated to IMEA, in exchange for monthly capacity payments and fuel costs.

PJM, or Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection, is a regional transmission organization. Partnering with PJM would provide Winnetka with a marketplace to acquire electricity from companies like ComEd and even IMEA. PJM is the largest wholesale electricity market in the nation, and oversees 13 states and Washington, D.C. 

Narhi and Pruitt laid out pros and cons to each, ensuring they touched on cost and sustainability.

Positives of IMEA

According to Narhi, the Village has accrued $47 million in capacity credits with IMEA since joining, because their plant helps fuel the organization. During a recent meeting, IMEA approved a more generous capacity payment structure that could allow the Village to profit even more over the next 10 years. 

Another advantage, according to Narhi, is that staying with IMEA would allow for better planning. With Winnetka’s energy load being mainly residential, Narhi believes that IMEA provides clearer pricing in comparison to purchasing energy through wholesale.

IMEA’s energy is generated through solar, wind, hydroelectric and coal, as stated on its website. With sustainability being a key concern, Narhi did stress that IMEA is working to build a more climate-friendly infrastructure, including making rooftop solar panels more accessible and renewable energy credits possible.

PJM benefits

Pruitt presented to the council about PJM. The challenge to the wholesale market is the unpredictable nature of the cost of energy. The demand for energy increases, while the supply of resources decreases as they are strained by data centers and other large energy consumers. Meaning that the cost of energy is only going to increase, which would make financial forecasting much more difficult in the wholesale market.

PJM, however, better aligns with Winnetka’s sustainable needs. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, PJM also uses coal, but since they pull power from 13 states, 14% of PJM’s generation comes from coal. 

The EIA article states, “In 2023, the use of coal-fired generation in PJM dropped to 34% of capacity. In 2023, coal-fired generation contributed 14% of PJM’s generation, while it made up 18% of its generating capacity. By comparison, in 2013, the capacity factor of coal-fired power plants in the market was 56%, when coal-fired power made up 44% of the market’s generation and 38% of its capacity.”

’10 years’

Following the presentation, residents took to the stand to voice their concerns, specifically on sustainability. 

Laith Amin, a Winnetka resident and vice president of growth and strategic development for EcoEngineers, voiced concerns over the rush to renew a contract not set to expire for 10 years.

“So if we were to build an energy plan, identify our goals, do extensive consultation, take the time that we need, the time is on our side. We’ve really got 10 years. We will come to exactly the right result,” Amin told the council.

The council agreed that it was crucial to provide IMEA with an update on their discussion, considering it is a founding municipality, but emphasized that there is no rush to decide. 

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