Staff outlines decision framework: affordability vs. reliability, sustainability and flexibility

City staff presented a decision framework to evaluate future procurement options, identifying four core categories: affordability, resilience/reliability, sustainability and flexibility (formerly described as "custom programs"). For affordability the staff recommended benchmarking total cost per kilowatt‑hour against ComEd and peer municipalities; for reliability staff recommended tracking SADI (System Average Interruption Duration Index); sustainability metrics would include metric tons of carbon produced and counts of solar installations or EV chargers; and flexibility would be measured by uptake in programs like green energy certificates or demand‑response participation.

City Manager Krieger said the framework is introductory and that staff will return with a detailed rubric and metrics to apply to the procurement options before final decisions. "When measuring sustainability we're looking at the metric tons of carbon produced by generation sources," Krieger said. Councilmembers repeatedly asked that staff not treat the decision framework as final at tonight's workshop and requested the metrics be reviewed and approved by council alongside the rate‑study results next year.