More than a million Illinois consumers are with alternative suppliers, but CUB would like to alert people to yet another choice: Commonwealth Edison’s Hourly Pricing program.
The program lets customers take advantage of hourly market-based electricity rates, which tend to be lower during nights and weekends. While not for everyone, thousands of Hourly Pricing participants have saved an average of 15 percent on the supply portion of their bills.
As ComEd installs new digital electric meters, customers are getting easier access to programs like Hourly Pricing, CUB Executive Director David Kolata said.
“It’s important that ComEd customers know about Hourly Pricing so they can judge if it’s the right choice for their own family,” Kolata said. “Hourly Pricing is an excellent program that has numerous benefits, beginning with a lower power bill.”
Many people don’t know that during off-peak times (nights and weekends), the market price of electricity can be extremely low, dipping to just a penny per kilowatt-hour. But most Illinois consumers can’t enjoy these lower rates because they are on traditional plans in which the supply rate doesn’t change for months, even years, at a time.
With Hourly Pricing, consumers can make simple adjustments to when they use major appliances, such as the dishwasher and clothes drier to cut their bills, to enjoy the lower prices on nights and weekends.
Here’s why it’s important to have programs like Hourly Pricing that help reduce electricity demand at “peak times.” Reduced peak demand puts less stress on the power grid, helping to prevent costly outages. It also reduces the need to use expensive “peaker” power plants.
Residents interested in determining if Hourly Pricing is right for them should call 1-888-202-7787, or visit ComEd.com/HourlyPricing. Ameren has a similar program, called Power Smart Pricing. To sign up, visit the Ameren website or call 1-877-655-6028.
Want to learn more? Visit our energy efficiency page to read up on other programs available to ComEd and Ameren customers.