Illinois utilities have filed their July gas prices with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and they’re fairly consistent with what we saw in June. One big exception: Consumers Gas has its prices rising 185 percent in just one month.
As we reported in June, the volatility of the gas market often leaves us scratching our heads–and this month raises its own questions:
- Why did Consumers Gas spike, from a statewide low of 13.3 cents per therm in June to 37.91 cents per therm in July?
- Why did Mt. Carmel’s price increase by 65 percent, from 13.56 cents per therm to 22.37 cents per therm?
- Why is Liberty Utilities still charging more than 90 cents per therm–about 45 cents to 73 cents higher than any other utility?
Other major utilities reported a relatively modest increase or decrease from last month. And we’re happy to see that the supply rates for all utilities are significantly lower than they were during the price spike a year ago. But the consumer advocates at CUB wonder: When will the next spike hit?
Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the ICC. Below are the preliminary supply prices for July 2023 and how they compare with last July’s prices.
July Gas Prices
Ameren Illinois–41 cents per therm (down about 52 percent from July 2022)
Consumers Gas–37.91 cents per therm (down about 68 percent from July 2022)
Illinois Gas–19.23 cents per therm (down about 80 percent from July 2022)
Liberty Utilities–92.14 cents per therm (down about 25 percent from July 2022)
MidAmerican Energy–47.51 cents per therm (down about 49 percent from July 2022)
Mt. Carmel–22.37 cents per therm (down about 73 percent from July 2022)
Nicor Gas–39 cents per therm (down about 69 percent from July 2022)
North Shore Gas–29.68 cents per therm (down about 71 percent from July 2022)
Peoples Gas–24.81 cents per therm (down about 80 percent from July 2022)
Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible.
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