Wait, So How Much is My Electric Bill?

Starting this month, utility tax increases approved by the village go into effect, and they're expected to add about $70 in annual costs for the average resident. 

But didn't we just get lower electricity rates from the village?

The recent decrease in electricity rates and increase in electricity taxes had some readers' heads spinning.

"They state that the electrical aggregate will save every taxpayer in New Lenox hundreds of dollars, but they don't state they want 2/3 of the savings," one reader said.

"We were suckered into voting to approve lower electrical rates JUST so we could have them raised for this project," another said.

So were we lied to? Suckered in? No.

Here's a timeline of what happened and how much money we're still expected to save.

• In April, voters gave the village the authority to find lower electricity prices at an aggregate rate.
• This summer, we struck a that promised to save residents 25 percent on their annual ComEd bills, or annual savings of $174.
• In September, the that will be financed in part by a 5 percent utility tax increase. That equates to about $70 more on your electric bill and $40 more on gas annually. 

So strictly looking at your electric bill, the average resident should still see about $104 in savings every year. Of course, there are some people who opted out of the Direct Energy deal and might be hit a bit harder by the tax increase.

The timing of the tax increase shortly following the savings was unfortunate, Mayor Tim Baldermann said, but something the village didn't discuss until after the Direct Energy deal was done.

For some residents, the timing isn't the issue: It's the fact that a certain amount of savings was promised, and now that won't be the case. Then again, many people will take any amount of savings possible.