The City of Chicago has decided to end its two-year power deal with Integrys Energy Services—the largest of its kind in the country—after determining that residents would no longer save on their electric bills. Customers will return to ComEd, the regulated utility, starting September 2015.
The City’s deal expires in May 2015, but ComEd and Constellation, which bought Integrys in 2014, have agreed to extend the current program through the summer to ensure ComEd has enough power supply during the highest-demand months of the year.
Constellation has agreed to charge residents either 7.145 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for each of the summer months or the ComEd price, whichever is lower. (In the fall, the Illinois Power Agency will conduct a power procurement that will ensure ComEd has enough power to supply all Chicago residents thereafter.)
So, what does this mean for you?
If you’re one of 700,000 enrolled in the City’s deal with Integrys, you can expect to be enrolled with ComEd as your electricity supplier starting in September. You will be automatically signed up, so you won’t have to lift a finger. If you are currently with a different alternative supplier or had already opted out of the City’s program, nothing will change.
As of right now, ComEd has not officially released its price-to-compare for the fall. Currently, the price is 7.572¢/kWh through May 2015, but that price is expected to drop June 1 by about 5 percent due to lower energy costs. CUB will update its website when the price is known.
For more information, read CUB’s Chicago Aggregation Guide.