The Naperville City Council may make a final decision on whether to extend or end its energy contract with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency by early next year.

When that vote is held hinges on whether a controversial data center proposal will appear on the agenda for the Jan. 20 council meeting. The center, proposed for the former Alcatel-Lucent site at 1960 Lucent Lane, has won the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission’s endorsement but is being actively opposed by a group of Naperville residents, some of whom live near the site.

City staff are sorting through details of the data center proposal in preparation for the council review and vote. Naperville City Attorney Michael DiSanto said the IMEA contract in not expected to be on the January meeting agenda as of right now.

The future of Naperville’s energy supply has been one of the most polarizing topics in the city in recent memory, sparking anti-IMEA rallies and long city council meeting debates on whether the city should continue to purchase energy from IMEA, a joint action agency that offers an already assembled power supply to members at a wholesale price but relies heavily on coal as a power source.

Naperville’s contract with IMEA expires in 2035, but the organization wants to extend its contract with the city and other member municipalities until 2055.

In August, council members directed city staff to negotiate with IMEA on a number of key points for the city, including the ability for Naperville to exit the contract in 2045, an amendment that would give Naperville weighted IMEA voting rights and other provisions that would allow the city to lower its carbon footprint.

At the same time, Naperville has sought proposals from power providers on clean energy options to supplement a potential energy agreement between the city and IMEA.

Naperville’s current contract does not allow the city to procure electricity from other sources, but IMEA members who sign a new 20-year agreement with the nonprofit joint action agency can utilize a Member Directed Resource (MDR) allocation to procure a percentage of their energy needs from renewable or cleaner sources.

A pile of coal sits on the Prairie State Energy Campus near Marissa, Illinois. The city of Naperville obtains its electricity through the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, which owns Prairie State. (Chicago Tribune)

A city request for proposals for non-fossil fuel energy options to supplement the electricity provided by IMEA was made in September.

Since then, the city has received responses from IMEA and clean energy vendors, officials said. Four of the clean energy vendor proposals are being evaluated, according to DiSanto, who declined to share more details. He also would not discuss what IMEA’s response has been because discussions remain ongoing, he said.

On Tuesday, council members discussed in closed session “confidential items related to MDR proposals,” Councilman Ian Holzhauer said.

“There’s been discussion about having further conversations in closed session, behind closed doors, about the future energy strategy,” said Holzhauer, noting that council members have been asked to provide their input by email regarding IMEA’s counterproposals.

Holzhauer said he believed it was time to start having more public discussions on the ongoing negotiations.

“I think there’s a transparency angle here too,” he said. “I think the public deserves to know where we stand on this.”

 

Multiple council members appeared to agree Tuesday with Holzhauer, with some being adamant that it was time to make a final decision.

“I would like the IMEA discussion to happen sooner than later. I’d rather the vote be right now,” said Councilman Josh McBroom, who emphasized that he wants more than just another conversation about the contract. “That would be very important to me that it wouldn’t just be a discussion and another discussion and another discussion, (but) that we would actually make a decision.”

Councilman Ashfaq Syed agreed.

“IMEA has been in discussion for (the) last two years. I am tired of this now. … It’s high time that we should make a decision and move forward,” he said.

cstein@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/19/naperville-imea-electricity-contract-vote-council/