(800) 669-5556

Blog

ComEd and Ameren customers: Your new electric rates for 2021

Ameren and ComEd have new electric delivery and supply rates as of Jan. 1. CUB breaks it down.

Delivery Rates

What are delivery rates? 

Electric bills have two parts: delivery and supply. 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 a third to a half of the electric bill.    

Illinois sets electric delivery rates for ComEd and Ameren according to the state’s 2011 “Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act.” The law, which CUB opposed, uses a formula tied to U.S. Treasury interest rates to determine delivery rates, and it opens the door to unfair rate hikes.

While formula rates have led to a total of more than $900 million in higher bills for ComEd and Ameren customers over the last decade, this year the utilities lowered delivery rates slightly–by $48.7 million for Ameren customers and by $14 million for ComEd customers. (In its final ruling to set rates for 2021, the Illinois Commerce Commission recommended about $1.78 million in adjustments for ComEd rates related to legal fees and other costs connected to the company’s ongoing bribery scandal.)

So what are we paying for delivery rates in 2021?  

ComEd:
Standard Metering Charge: $3.73/month (formerly $4.60/month)
IL Electricity Distribution Charge: 0.124 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) (formerly 0.1220¢/kWh)

Single family homes without electric heat
Monthly Customer Charge: $10.55/month (formerly $11.47/month)

Distribution Facilities Charge:  3.663¢/kWh (formerly 3.598¢/kWh)

Multifamily homes without electric heat
Monthly Customer Charge: $7.70/month (formerly $8.37/month)

Distribution Facilities Charge: 2.970¢/kWh (formerly 2.854¢/kWh)

Single family homes with electric heat
Monthly Customer Charge: $11.97/month (formerly $13.07/month)

Distribution Facilities Charge: 1.768¢/kWh (formerly 1.662¢/kWh)

Multifamily homes with electric heat
Monthly Customer Charge: $8.34/month (formerly $9.13/month)

Distribution Facilities Charge: 1.797¢/kWh (formerly 1.668¢/kWh)


Ameren: 
Meter Charge: $4.66/month (formerly $5.42/month)

Monthly Customer Charge: $6.88/month (formerly $8.58/month)

EDT Cost Recovery Charge: 0.117¢/kWh (formerly 0.122¢/kWh)

Distribution Delivery Charge Summer: 5.274¢/kWh (formerly 4.970 ¢/kWh).

Distribution Delivery Charge Non-Summer:
3.087¢/kWh for first 800 kWh used (formerly 2.909¢/kWh)
1.639¢/kWh over 800 kWh (formerly 1.547¢/kWh)

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.

Note: You can opt to pay an alternative supplier for these rates–but your best bet in the current market is to stay with your utility for supply. According to the state of Illinois, consumers have lost more than $1 billion to alternative electricity suppliers since 2015.

So what are the utilities charging for supply as of Jan. 1? 

The utilities’ supply rates have changed slightly in 2021.     

ComEd Price to Compare: 7.069¢/kWh (formerly: 7.067¢/kWh)


Ameren Price to Compare: 0-800 kWh: 4.553¢/kWh (formerly: 4.542 ¢/kWh), Above 800 kWh: 4.4¢/kWh (4.389 ¢/kWh)