CUB put together this Winter Toolkit to help you prepare for when the cold wind blows. We hope you find this information helpful.
Winter Predictions:
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s outlook for November through January shows a mix of above- and below-normal temperatures, and a chance for higher than normal precipitation.
- The Farmer’s Almanac (many meteorologists question its accuracy) predicts “cold, dry” weather in north-central and northeastern Illinois; a “cold, snowy” winter across the southern third of Illinois; and “mild, snowy” weather in western Illinois.
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Helpful Resources:
- Your Winter To-Do List: Save Money, Keep the Chill Out
- Tips for staying safe, warm and energy-efficient during Illinois winters
- Save energy and money with these winter efficiency tips
- A Step-by-Step Guide to Applying for LIHEAP
- CUB’s Making Sense of Your Gas Bill fact sheet.
- Current gas prices for Illinois utilities and other resources are on CUB’s gas page, and here’s a history of gas prices going back a decade for Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas.
- There are cheaper, cleaner ways to heat your home–order CUB’s free Better Heat Guide to learn how to make the transition to more efficient appliances, like electric heat pumps and induction stove tops.
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Gas Policy Updates:
- Future of Gas proceedings.
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) in March launched a Future of Gas proceeding, requiring all gas utilities to begin to consider the future of their expensive infrastructure as market trends lead customers to convert from gas to electricity for their heat. Phase One of the proceedings identified issues essential to planning for the long-term transition to cheaper, cleaner forms of heat. Phase Two, which began in late August, is exploring those issues to determine the best pathways to make this transition. Renewable Energy Policy Coordinator Scott Allen, who has represented CUB in this proceeding, is listening to presentations from experts and advocates who talk about the potential impact of decreasing reliance on methane gas, and he’s paying particular attention to how this transition will affect the most vulnerable people in Illinois. “So far in this process, gas utility proponents have been out in full force, and, of course, they are 100 percent focused on protecting their own profits,” Scott said. “It’s my job to challenge their ideas, and make sure the focus remains on how this transition can benefit everyday consumers.”
- Battles with Peoples Gas.
- Earlier this year, Peoples Gas challenged an ICC ruling and tried to increase their state-record rate hike by another $7.9 million. The ICC largely rejected the utility’s arguments, granting them a fraction of what they wanted ($1.6 million). CUB applauded the ICC “for rejecting a six-month onslaught of scare-mongering and misinformation that Peoples Gas and its allies hurled at regulators in the hopes of pressuring them to restore much of the controversial pipeline-replacement program’s 2024 spending.”
- Last November, the ICC paused Peoples Gas’ wasteful pipeline-replacement program and launched a probe into the program’s management ( PIRG, the City of Chicago and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office have taken the lead on fighting for consumers in this case). CUB joined with PIRG and AARP Illinois in a petition drive urging regulators to rein in the program’s reckless spending, which has plunged Chicago into an ongoing heating-affordability crisis. This is not only a Chicago problem: A report earlier this year found that rampant spending among gas utilities statewide could triple gas bill charges in years to come.
- CUB, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and other consumer advocates have been taking part in yearly reconciliation proceedings in which they challenge certain pipe-replacement costs deemed excessive and unnecessary. In the past, this has led to $7 million and $10 million refund packages. These review processes have been delayed over the years, in part due to problems with the pipeline program. The ICC just concluded its review of 2016 expenses and issued a $1.5 million refund.
- Working for clean, affordable heat.
CUB has been working for policy changes at the Chicago City Council (the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance) and at the Illinois State Capitol (Clean and Healthy Buildings Act) toward the the goal of helping consumers through a managed transition to clean, affordable heating and cooking alternatives. This won’t happen overnight–these are long-term projects–and we will continue to advocate for consumers having access to clean, healthy and affordable power and heat.
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About That “QIP” Charge:
CUB and other consumer advocates were pleased that the gas utilities were not able to successfully lobby in Springfield for an extension of the “Qualified Infrastructure Plant,” or QIP, surcharge. But some customers have asked CUB: Why do I still see the QIP on my gas bill?
The surcharge, technically called a “Rider,” was approved by the Illinois General Assembly in 2013, and it has led to rapidly escalating gas bills over the last decade–especially in Chicago, where it helped Peoples Gas capture record profits while setting off a heating-affordability crisis. The QIP allowed gas utilities–Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and Ameren Illinois–to rake in revenue more quickly to help pay for pipe-replacement costs without having to go through a traditional 11-month rate case. CUB opposed it, and fought against its extension.
Despite the fact that the law creating the surcharge expired at the end of 2023, the QIP is still on bills, for now. CUB’s legal team explained:
The expiration of the law prevents gas utilities from using the QIP to charge customers for new pipeline projects, but they can still charge to recover their costs from past projects they did while the Rider was available. They can charge the QIP surcharge for those past projects until the utilities have fully recovered the costs or have shifted all of them into rates. So that could be years.
CUB Note: This is exactly why we opposed the QIP, which does an end-run around the traditional regulatory process and takes a “pay now, ask permission later” approach. In a traditional rate case, utilities would need to ask the ICC permission to do a project, show how much it would cost and prove the project is “prudent and reasonable”–before being allowed to charge customers for it. With QIP, the utility spends the money and charges customers for it without having to ask the ICC first. For every year the QIP rider was in place, the utility had to file a case with the ICC the following year to reconcile those charges – to say “we spent this much money on these things and have charged customers this much to pay for it and want to keep doing that until we’ve fully covered the cost.” This after-the-fact “QIP Reconciliation” is not fair to consumers, CUB contends, but the consumer group and other advocates have secured partial refunds over the years. (See the $1.5 million refund above.)
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Take Action:
Please sign our petition urging Illinois regulators to rein in reckless spending by gas utilities across the state or, if you live in Chicago, by Peoples Gas.
