There have been several dramatic developments concerning Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) and Ameren Illinois electric bills over the past 12 months. This guide outlines those developments, and summarizes new Ameren and ComEd rates in 2026.
Power-Bill Guide: New Developments
Rate hikes: In December 2025, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) granted a $243 million hike in delivery rates for ComEd and a $48 million increase for Ameren.
Price Spikes: Beginning in the summer of 2025, supply prices for ComEd and Ameren skyrocketed by about 50 percent. Electric prices are volatile, thanks to soaring energy demand sparked by data centers. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) warned that within a few years we face rolling blackouts and bill spikes by up to $70 a month if we don’t take decisive action to reform state, regional and federal policy to require data centers to cover their own energy costs. Passage of Illinois’ Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act is a big step in the right direction but more needs to be done to fight electric-price volatility.
Bill Credits: Ameren and ComEd customers did get some good news in the form of credits on their power bills.
- The Carbon-Free Energy Resource Adjustment for ComEd customers: Beginning in June, most ComEd customers began receiving a credit on their bills (ranging from about 0.276 cents to 1.7 cent per kilowatt-hour [kWh]), thanks to a provision in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that gives customers relief during times of elevated electricity prices. The CEJA credit has been a success story for Illinois consumers: Even before the announcement of the additional credits, the Chicago Tribune reported that on a net basis ratepayers have been credited some $600 million since 2022. More good news: In December, ComEd announced that customers were due a total of $803 million in additional credits in connection with the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The utility estimated that this would average about $13 a month from January to May 2026.
- Dynegy credit for Ameren Illinois customers: In December, Attorney General Kwame Raoul reported that some Ameren Illinois customers would receive a one-time credit on their bills connected to a $38 million settlement with Dynegy Inc. over allegations that it manipulated the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s capacity auction and drove up prices a decade ago. CUB remembers this painful price spike in 2015–a nine-fold increase in the price for reserve power (also known as “capacity”)–so we’re glad Ameren customers got some relief. Ameren residential and small commercial customers on Basic Generation Service or Real Time Pricing supply received a credit of about 5 cents per kWh on their December electric usage. Some customers will see a portion of the credit in December, and the rest in January. According to Ameren, the credit is included in the Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA) line item on the supply portion of bills. Customers with alternative suppliers were not eligible for the refund. More good news: Ameren customers received an additional credit, through the PEA, beginning in January, due to a software coding error that impacted the 2025 capacity auction. That auction led to a summer 2025 price spike for Ameren Illinois supply customers.
ComEd Low-Income Discount Program. As of Jan. 1, ComEd has launched a program to give discounts to income-qualified customers struggling to afford their bills. Ameren is preparing to launch a program in the near future. Please spread the word about this program.
Power-Bill Guide: Your Rates
Below is our breakdown of electric delivery rates and supply prices for 2026. (You can also see the rates in our Making Sense of Your Electric Bill fact sheet.)
Delivery Rates:
What are delivery rates?
Electric bills have delivery and supply sections. All of us pay delivery rates to cover the utilities’ costs of sending electricity over their wires to our homes–plus a profit for the companies. Those charges take up about half of your electric bill, more or less.
For a decade, Illinois set electric delivery rates for ComEd and Ameren according to the state’s 2011 “Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act.” The law, which CUB opposed, used a formula to determine delivery rates, opened the door to about $1 billion in rate hikes and was at the heart of the ComEd corruption scandal. But CEJA launched a new system to set rates under four-year plans, and that has given state regulators more authority to limit rate hikes.
But there’s still more work to do. Under a provision in Illinois utility law that CUB opposes, Ameren and ComEd can petition the ICC to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if they go over-budget on expenditures. The rate hikes referenced above are from this reconciliation process. As the Chicago Tribune editorialized a few years ago: “One of the most obnoxious aspects of utility regulation in Illinois is that when rates are set for ComEd and downstate electricity utility Ameren Illinois, the companies are all but guaranteed a certain profit level.”
So what are we paying for delivery rates in 2026?
CUB dived into the tariffs and here’s what we found. These rates reflect the delivery rate hikes that Ameren and ComEd received as of Jan. 1.
Ameren:
- Meter Charge: $5.96/month (formerly $5.32/month)
Note: Covers meter-related services, such as installing, maintaining and testing meter equipment.
- Monthly Customer Charge: $8.55/month (formerly $8.72/month)
Note: Helps cover the utility’s administrative costs of doing business, such as billing, postage and customer assistance. This is the tariffed customer charge ($7.42) PLUS supplemental charges that help subsidize programs to cover energy costs for lower-income consumers; to develop renewable energy and clean-coal technology, to recover the costs of real-time pricing programs, which allow homes to pay an hourly rate for power; to cover utility billing costs associated with alternative retail energy suppliers; and to help cover an uncollectibles charge.
- EDT Cost Recovery Charge: 0.12567 (formerly 0.12550¢/kWh)
Note: Recovers the Illinois Electricity Distribution Tax.
- Distribution Delivery Charge Summer: 7.811¢/kWh (formerly 7.477¢/kWh)
- Distribution Delivery Charge Non-Summer:
- 4.572¢/kWh for the first 800 kWh used (formerly 4.376¢/kWh)
- 2.427¢/kWh for usage over 800 kWh (formerly 2.324¢/kWh)
Note: Covers the costs of maintaining equipment/wires and other costs not recovered through the customer charge.
ComEd:
Monthly Customer Charge
- Non-electric heat: $15.26/month for single-family homes (formerly $15.45/month), $11.51/month for multi-family (formerly $11.62/month)
- Electric heat: $18.18/month for single-family homes (formerly $17.59/month), $12.95/month for multi-family (formerly $12.57/month)
Note: Helps cover the utility’s administrative costs of doing business, such as billing, postage and customer assistance.
Distribution Facilities Charge
- Non-electric heat: 6.228¢/kWh for single-family (formerly 6.062¢/kWh), 4.791¢/kWh for multi-family (formerly 4.641¢/kWh)
- Electric heat: 3.165¢/kWh for single-family (formerly 2.924¢/kWh), 2.996¢/kWh for multi-family (formerly 2.783¢/kWh)
Note: Covers the costs of maintaining equipment/wires, and other costs not recovered through the customer charge.
Standard Metering Charge
- Non-electric heat: $3.81/month for single-family homes (formerly $4.02/month), $3.82/month for multi-family (formerly $4.02/month)
- Electric heat: $4.03/month for single-family homes (formerly $4.02/month), $4.01/month for multi-family (formerly $4.02/month)
Note: Covers meter-related services, such as installing, maintaining, and testing meter equipment.
IL Electricity Distribution Charge
- Non-electric heat: 0.126 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) for single-family homes (formerly 0.125¢/kWh), 0.126 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) for multi-family (formerly 0.125¢/kWh)
- Electric heat: 0.134 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) (formerly 0.125¢/kWh), 0.133 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) (formerly 0.125¢/kWh)
Note: Recovers the Illinois Electricity Distribution Tax and is the same for all customer classes.
Supply Rates:
What are supply rates?
Supply rates cover the costs of the actual electricity. Unlike delivery charges, the utilities are not allowed to profit off the supply rate. They must pass onto customers what they pay for the electricity, with no markup. Supply can take up about half of your electric bill, more or less.
Note: You can opt to pay an alternative supplier for these rates–but most likely your best bet is to stay with your utility for supply. According to CUB’s review of records from the state of Illinois, consumers have lost more than $2 billion to alternative electricity suppliers since 2015.
So what are the utilities charging for supply as of Jan. 1?
These are the rates through May of 2026:
ComEd Supply Price:
9.66¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (That’s about 47 percent higher than last January.)
Note: The price above includes the supply price plus a transmission charge. ComEd’s price will change in June 2026, but it will be elevated for at least the next few years because of the impact of data centers.
Ameren Supply Price:
8.769¢/kWh for 0-800 kWh of usage (That’s about 6 percent higher than last January.)
7.850¢/kWh for usage above 800 kWh
Note: The prices above include the supply price plus a transmission charge plus a supply cost adjustment. Ameren’s price skyrocketed last summer, but has since dropped. But CUB is concerned the price will spike again in June 2026, due to a number of factors, including the impact of data centers.
For information on how to reduce your electric bill, check out CUB’s Energy Efficiency page and reach out for a utility bill clinic consultation at [email protected].
