The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) issued rulings last November that reduced record rate hikes proposed by Illinois’ major gas utilities by $240 million. As a result of those rulings, Illinois’ major gas utilities are charging new delivery rates in 2024.
Read our breakdown below, and check out our Q&A on the gas rulings. (Read a similar breakdown for electric customers.)
DELIVERY RATES
What are delivery rates?
Gas bills have major parts: delivery and supply. All of us pay delivery rates to cover the utilities’ costs of sending gas through their pipes to our homes–plus a profit for the companies. Those charges take up about a third to a half of bas bills.
So what are we paying for delivery rates in 2024?
These rates reflect the delivery rate hikes that Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas and Peoples Gas received in an Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) ruling in November of 2023. (North Shore Gas also got a rate hike, but they have yet to file their new tariffs, as they are disputing part of the Illinois Commerce Commission ruling requiring the company to change the way they bill customers.)
Monthly Customer Charge
This fixed monthly fee helps cover the utility’s administrative costs of doing business, such as billing, postage and customer assistance. Below is the fee for each utility and how it changed from the previous charge. CUB opposes high fixed fees because they are punitive on customers. People are forced to pay the same fee each month, even if they are working hard to be more energy efficient.
Ameren Illinois: $20.89 (UP from $19.43)
Nicor Gas: $18.88 (DOWN from $23.30)
Peoples Gas: $27.36 (DOWN from $33.43)
North Shore Gas: $21.11 (Previously 79.309¢ per day, or roughly $24 per month in a 30-day month)
Distribution Charge
This per-therm charge helps to cover the costs of maintaining equipment/pipes and other costs not recovered through the customer charge. We never like to see this fee go up, but because it’s based on usage, customers can reduce the impact of this charge by practicing energy efficiency.
Ameren Illinois: 43.776 cents (UP from 31.935 cents)
Nicor Gas: 21.34 cents (UP from 10.67 cents)
Peoples Gas: 46.524 cents (UP from 19.477 cents)
North Shore Gas: 18.671 cents (UP from 12.896 cents)
SUPPLY RATES
What are supply rates?
Supply rates cover the costs of the actual gas. Unlike delivery charges, the utilities are not allowed to profit off the supply rate. Under Illinois law, they must 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. Supply takes up about a half to two-thirds of your electric bill. 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. (Read our tips to avoid bad alternative energy supplier deals.)
So what are the utilities charging for supply?
After two winters of elevated prices, gas supply rates are down significantly, but they can change on a monthly basis. For ongoing updates see our Gas page, where each month we publish the latest gas supply prices.
For information on how to reduce your gas bill, check out CUB’s Energy Efficiency page and reach out for a utility bill clinic consultation at [email protected].
