Voters in Logan County next week will decide whether to allow the city to go out and buy electricity.

The City of Lincoln and others in Logan County have been investigating into what is called "Electric Aggregation." Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder if approved by the voters, the city would hire a company to go out and acquire bids from electric companies to provide those in the city with electricity, and those in the city can chose to be or not to be a part of the program.

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The major says advantages to the city of Lincoln would be providing residents with more options for their electric rates. Snyder notes things may shake out so the city has several options on how they want their electricity provided as well to be more environmentally friendly.

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According to Snyder, electric rates are currently low. He says the rates they would receive back hinge on what the electric markets do, which could be the one downside to Lincoln being a part of the program.

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The contract the city could enter into can be a short term contract or a long term contract. Snyder says if the city inters into a shorter contract, their rates most likely would be lower, but the longer their contract is the higher the rates would most likely be.

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Should the referendum pass, the city will enter into an original contract. After the first contract expires they could then go out for bids again through a company to get rates for them, in hopes of finding lower rates. Snyder says this ensures they do not pay more than what their local provider would offer, which for Lincoln and Logan County would be Ameren.