Rex ForWard 7

06/08/2025

Its been three years since ComEd started the "Carbon-Free Energy Resource Adjustment" (CFERA) on our utility bills that arrived from CEJA that showed up on the May 2022 bill with gangbuster credits that totaled $2.4B in the northern PJM territory of Illinois. Me personally I received a credit value of $337.21 in the first year.

Second year the brakes were put on due to a miscalculation by ComEd and "natural gas prices" that clawed back $1.1B of the $2.4B and that cost me $174.48 in year 2.

Year 3 came in for a landing costing me another $46.67.

Total net for the three years has been a credit of 116.06 on a total of 34,903 kWh or an average credit of 0.33 cents/kWh used.

This CFERA is a key component that is used to keep the Nuclear plants generating when the natural gas prices were high and allowing the non profitable nuclear plants to stay alive. Each of the nuclear generators have now likely fully cycled all the cores in the plants that cost ~$250M each every 1.5 years. 6 plants *2 cores*$250M = $2.5B - You can start to see the math?

The CFERA will end in May 2027 per CEJA.

06/07/2025

SURVEY - Important - please take a few minutes
Affordable and Attainable Housing in Elmhurst

2025 Homes for a Changing Region Housing Study:
The City of Elmhurst is participating in the Homes for a Changing Region program, in partnership with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC). Over 65 suburban municipalities in the Chicago region have participated in the program over the last two decades, including Park Ridge, Geneva, Buffalo Grove, and Arlington Heights. The program helps municipal leaders understand how well the housing needs and preferences of their residents and workforce are being met, and what strategies municipalities within the region have taken to address similar needs while preserving and enhancing the character of their community. The Community Survey is live! The City invites all who live or work in Elmhurst to take part in this process by completing the community survey available at this link:

04/03/2025

I trust Tom Skilling as much as Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather - 16 min on our Weather and the DOGE White house cuts - Well worth it!

Budget cuts to and will put lives at risk - forecasts will be less accurate & severe weather notifications delayed. Meteorologist Emeritus talks about the impact.

11/23/2024

Veterans and active duty military getting a $1 vehicle sticker comes to final vote this Monday on City Council. City Clerk signature will be the same as Jackie is unopposed 4/1/25.

07/25/2024

Update on the DuPage County Stormwater Elmhurst quarry update came today for the first water diversion event of 2024 this past weekend.

"Beginning late Saturday night July 13 and continuing through Tuesday night July 16, much of DuPage County received sudden and intense bouts of rainfall from three separate rain events. Rainfall totals across the County ranged from 2.5 inches to 6.3 inches over the course of three days, which triggered the manual operation of the Elmhurst Quarry, Spring Creek Reservoir, and Armstrong Park flood control facilities, as well as many smaller gravity-operated systems. These facilities helped to divert nearly 163 million gallons of stormwater away from residential areas. That’s the equivalent of 2.9 million rain barrels filled! This is the first major facility operation since 2022."

05/30/2024

BYD’s workforce is now nearly double Toyota’s !!
China's EV's since 2022 are now cheaper than gasoline combustion cars (ICE)

As EV sales surge in China, BYD’s workforce has expanded rapidly, adding nearly 500,000 employees since 2019. BYD’s workforce is...

05/30/2024

Number 6:
Another home collapses into the sea in a coastal North Carolina community that’s already seen five other houses succumb to erosion and rising seas.

This is the sixth house to collapse along the Outer Banks in the past four years.

05/26/2024

Watched PBS "Secrets in Your Data" last night - super eye opening - Data brokers feed Zuckerberg and Google and not sure who all else. Highly recommend the 54 minute investment!!

Find out who’s using your data and what you can do about it.

05/25/2024

Dark Skies initiative is gaining ground in IL:
(pending Gov Signature)
Reducing Outdoor Lighting Pollution -
Rep. Terra Costa Howard successfully passed SB3501 out of the House on a vote of 71-39, and this bill is headed to the Governor’s desk. It would require lighting installed on IDNR property after January 1, 2025, to meet compliance with International Dark Sky standards, meaning they would have minimal impacts on light pollution. While this does benefit those wishing to clearly see the night sky, it also has benefits for wildlife and plant species which biologically depend on the night/day cycle. With Illinois in the Mississippi River Flyway this is crucially important as multiple bird species fly at night and often use open spaces in Illinois to rest on their journeys.

05/04/2024

Electricity and Water Factoids:
Average Elmhurst water bill of 10,500 gls takes approximately 557 kWh of electricity to get it to your house. At 17.4 cents/kWh that comes to ~ $96.92 of electrons at cost on the Chicago water bills regardless of where the person lives in the Chicago region. The days of $.005/gallon and 9 cent per kWh electricity are long gone!

03/29/2024

The Leaf blowers are out and going cranking over 100db's at 120 feet for over 15 minutes - Oh - we have an ordinance for that.

03/10/2024

Water Saving Matrix Ideas:
1. Change shower head from a 2.5 gpm to a low flow 1.5 gpm and then shorten shower by 12 minutes. This will save you $154 annually

2. Change a single toilet from 2.5 gl flush down to .7 average and reduce flushes by 12 per day and the annual savings is $278

3. Make sure you do not have a leaking toilet - either food color test or mark the tank water level and check it over time.