NIMEC is an electric purchasing collaborative of 140 municipal and other government entities that “band together to drive down pricing.” When NIMEC aggregates its members’ electric load, it is able to leverage the higher volume and negotiate more aggressive pricing from suppliers.

NIMEC was formed in response to the deregulation of electricity in the State of Illinois which allowed users to purchase power from sources other than Commonwealth Edison.

Since 2006, NIMEC has enabled its municipal members to purchase power for their operations (water pumping and street lighting) by aggregating their usage and bidding it out collectively. Suppliers thus bid more aggressively, offering better rates for the collective load than were the municipalities to approach suppliers individually.

Residential Municipal Aggregation of Electric Power

Beginning in 2011, NIMEC became the leader in Municipal Aggregation across northern Illinois, helping municipalities to negotiate lower power rates for their residents’ ComEd bills. NIMEC led the majority of communities that completed the municipal aggregation process in 2011. NIMEC helped these municipalities to secure significantly lower electric rates while completing the process faster because of NIMEC's knowledge and expertise in the market. NIMEC secured the lowest-rate contract achieved for residential municipal aggregation in 2011.