Where is the Water & Electric
Department?
The Water & Electric Department offices
are located at 1390 Willow Road. The public entrance to the building in on the Willow Road side.
The utility billing department is located in the Finance Department at Village Hall, 510 Green Bay Road.
What are the hours of operation?
The office is staffed from 7
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
How do I apply for water and/or electric
service?
Contact the Finance Department at 847-446-9550 for an application for service. The Village must verify your identity in order to provide service, so you will be asked to show a government-issued photo I.D. in order to establish service. The Village will accept a photocopy of your out-of-state photo ID if you are new to Illinois.
How do I discontinue my water and
electric service?
Call utility billing at (847) 446-9550. We
must physically read the actual meter, before service can be discontinued.
You will need to make arrangements for the meter reader to obtain the final
readings.
Who can answer a question about my
bill?
Call utility billing at (847) 446-9550.
Who do I call about a problem with
my utility service?
The Water & Electric Department emergency
line is (847) 501-2531. This number is staffed at all times.
Who do I call to report a problem
with a street light being out or turning on and off?
Call the Water and Electric Department at
(847) 716-3558. If it is after hours, you can leave the information on voice
mail.
Who do I call to report a problem
with a traffic signal?
The Water & Electric Department emergency
line is (847) 501-2531. This number is staffed at all times.
Cross Connection Control/Backflow Preventers
The Village recently sent out a Cross Connection Survey to Winnetka residential and commercial water customers. The survey is part of the Village’s cross connection program which is an IEPA requirement. The State of Illinois regulations prohibit cross connections of any kind and require the Village, as a public water system operator, to maintain an active program to identify and eliminate cross connection hazards. This is one of several tools intended to protect water consumers in the state. Cross connection control devices are also called backflow preventers, reduced pressure zone devices or RPZ’s. These devices are required to prevent potential contamination sources from entering the potable (drinking) water distribution system.
In most cases, the following facilities require cross connection control devices:
- Schools
- Medical/Dental facilities and laboratories
- Golf Courses
- Beauty salons and manicure/pedicure facilities
- Photographic processors
- Establishments selling fresh market, poultry or fish
- Gas stations, garages and car washes
- Florists or nurseries
- Residences with lawn sprinklers, fire protection systems, or swimming pools/hot tubs
- Apartment and Condominium buildings
Connection control devices are to be tested on an annual basis by a licensed plumber who is certified in Cross-Connection Control Device Inspections. Many irrigation companies will coordinate the test with the spring start up of the lawn sprinkler system. A copy of the test records is to be mailed or faxed to the Water & Electric Department. Any questions can be directed to 847-716-3558.
WInnetka, IMEA and the Prairie State Power Plant
Winnetka is one of the 33 members and purchasers of wholesale power from the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA). As such, it is important to clarify several misstatements and misimpressions left by the July 11th Chicago Tribune article on the Prairie State power plant, located in downstate Washington County Illinois.
First, the Prairie State project has not doubled in cost since IMEA’s members decided to join the Prairie State project in 2007. At that time, the project was estimated to cost approximately $4 billion. While costs for any such complicated project can go up, Prairie State’s costs are not anywhere near having doubled since IMEA became involved in 2007. The reporter’s use of a 2001 cost estimate is not relevant, as IMEA’s decision to participate in 2007 was based on the estimated costs at that time.
Second, the story incorrectly implied that IMEA’s wholesale costs in 2013 would be up some 30% compared to 2007 exclusively due to IMEA’s participation Prairie State and the new Kentucky facility, Trimble County 2. Instead, the projected cost changes from 2007 to 2013 include all of IMEA’s costs, not just Prairie State and Trimble County. Other projected increases related to IMEA’s purchased power arrangements include:
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the replacement of lower cost power supply arrangements that expired around 2007 with contracts based on current market rates,
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IMEA’s new 70 MW wind energy purchase,
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IMEA’s new energy efficiency program and
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all the other cost increases related to IMEA’s entire power supply portfolio (including increases in fuel costs).
Thus, characterizing all increases as being due to Prairie State and Trimble County 2 is incorrect.
Prairie State is only 20% of IMEA’s total capacity projected to be needed in 2013. As such, IMEA estimates the cost increases that the project has experienced will raise the wholesale power costs for its members by about 4.5% over the agency’s original projections. This can hardly be characterized as a doubling of costs.
The article overlooks the fact that the Midwest is served primarily by electricity generated from fossil fuels, so the impact of any new federal laws or regulations to requiring the purchase of allowances for the emission of greenhouse gases will not be unique to Prairie State. Every consumer in Illinois (even those with nuclear power plants as part of their supply) will be paying those costs since the cost of allowances will be a part of the market cost of power in both the state’s regional transmission organizations; PJM and MISO. That means that if IMEA were to buy off the open market rather than as an owner of Prairie State, the agency would still pay those costs as well as any other cost increases related to market purchases. In short, Prairie State will be only one of the many facilities that will be impacted by such law or regulation.
Alternative technologies are not less expensive. IGCC (shorthand for “integrated gasification combined cycle”) takes coal and treats it by heat and other means to create a gas and then uses that gas to fuel a power plant. To assert that Prairie State is now as expensive as an IGCC plant in incorrect. For example, a recent article in the Indianapolis Business Journal notes that a planned IGCC plant being built by Duke Power in Indiana, which at 618 MW is less than half the size of Prairie State, is currently expected to cost approximately $3 billion. Initial estimates of the Duke IGCC project’s costs were under $2 billion.
Finally, it is important to understand that IMEA’s share of the costs of Prairie State are not a debt of the Village of Winnetka. Winnetka will contribute to the payment of IMEA’s share of the Prairie State costs only through its purchase of power from IMEA pursuant to power purchase agreements.
Prairie State is one piece of IMEA’s diversified power supply portfolio, which includes wind generation and energy efficiency, and is designed to provide long-term, stably-priced, environmentally responsible power to IMEA’s members. Prairie State is a component, but only a component, of that portfolio and it will provide benefits to IMEA and its members for many years to come.
