As of October 1, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois are charging a new “price to compare,” the price customers should compare to alternative supplier offers, according to PlugInIllinois.gov, the state of Illinois’ electric competition website.
ComEd Supply Rate: October 2024 – May 2025
6.47 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Note: This rate includes the supply price and a transmission charge. ComEd charged 6.85 cents per kWh last month, and 6.872 cents per kWh last October.
Ameren Supply Rate: October 2024 – May 2025
8.09 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for up to 800 kWh of usage. Each kWh beyond that is 7.506 cents per kWh.
Note: This rate includes the supply price, a transmission charge and a supply cost adjustment. Ameren charged 8.136 cents per kWh last month, and about 7.1 -8.1 cents per kWh last October.
Here’s what Illinois consumers need to know about these supply rates:
- These are non-summer supply rates through May 31, 2025.
- These supply-related charges take up a half to two-thirds of power bills. Delivery charges–what the utilities charge to deliver power to homes–take up a third to a half of bills.
- Ameren and ComEd do not profit off the price of electricity—under law they are supposed to pass those costs onto customers with no markup. (They do profit off the delivery portion of the bill, and CUB is currently challenging excessive spending and higher rates the companies are proposing in their power grid plans before state regulators.)
- Ameren and ComEd serve customers living in set geographic territories: ComEd covers the northern third of Illinois; and Ameren the southern two-thirds of the state. Their prices differ because the supply rates are set by different energy markets with different rules. People living in one utility territory cannot switch to another utility’s supply price.
Important information about electricity choice: While utilities charge customers for delivering electricity to homes in their service territories, Ameren and ComEd customers can choose to pay an alternative company for their supply.
- It’s likely your best bet is to stick with your utility for power supply. Illinois consumers have lost $1.8 billion to alternative electricity suppliers since 2015.
- Consumers on municipal aggregation offers—community power deals that are negotiated by local governments—should check the rate they are on and how it compares to their utility’s supply price. Aggregation has been a much safer bet than supplier offers marketed over the phone, door-to-door or via mail–but savings are not guaranteed. See if your community has a municipal aggregation deal and what price it is charging at the state of Illinois’ electric competition website, Plug In Illinois.
There are more reliable ways to cut costs than switching to an alternative supplier:
- Practice energy efficiency. The utilities offer no- and low-cost programs to help cut costs.
- Consider joining ComEd Peak Time Savings/Ameren Peak Time Rewards. These programs (one for ComEd customers, and one for Ameren customers) give participants a bill credit if they’re able to reduce energy usage for a limited number of hours on certain days (typically hot summer afternoons) when electricity demand is highest. Demand response programs like these give participants incentives to reduce energy usage when demand is at its peak and fossil-fuel power plants work their hardest. Since a significant part of our power bills goes to making sure power plants can meet high demand, lowering peak demand can cut our costs.
- Consider joining ComEd Hourly Pricing or Ameren Power Smart Pricing. These programs charge a wholesale market price that can change hourly, compared with the traditional supply price that only changes about twice a year. Hourly Pricing and Power Smart Pricing encourage customers to put off heavy energy usage (laundry, for example) until prices are lowest: late night and early morning. These programs reduce peak demand and cut the need for fossil-fuel power plant operation. While savings are not guaranteed, 99 percent of participants in Hourly Pricing saved money on the program in 2023.
- Explore solar power: Consider installing solar panels using state and federal incentives. Or, if that’s not an option, consider Community Solar deals. Community solar allows participants to enjoy the benefits of solar power (lower bills) without having to install panels on their property. Currently, all community solar deals claim to save participants money compared with the utility’s supply price, but make sure to read the fine print and read our shopping tips. (Note: The waiting list for offers can be months.)
- Consumers struggling to afford their bills, should see if they qualify for energy assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). To apply or learn more, visit www.helpillinoisfamilies.com or call the Help Illinois Families Assistance Line at 1-833-711-0374.
