CUB’s Outreach team travels across the state of Illinois to staff free events to give consumers energy efficiency tips for their home, educate them on how clean energy can cut their utility bills and help people protect themselves from scams and rip-offs. We hope to see you at one soon! 1:00…...
CUB’s monthly report on gas market volatility: December
Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Here’s what CUB uncovered in our review of prices in December. Compared with last month, five of 9 major utilities are charging prices that are lower, ranging from about 1.2 percent lower (Peoples…...
CUB statement: Regulatory judges’ proposed order would give Peoples Gas ‘license to inflict staggering rate hikes’
On Tuesday, administrative law judges for the Illinois Commerce Commission issued a Proposed Order in the regulatory body’s investigation (Docket No. 24-0081) into Peoples Gas’ System Modernization Program (SMP), a comprehensive overhaul of Chicago’s underground gas pipes that has been engulfed in controversy since its inception. (Read a pdf of…...
Chicago Sun-Times: Here’s how the Citizens Utility Board has saved Illinois consumers billions (The group turned 40 this year but not everyone knows about the CUB’s role in representing ratepayers.)
By Stephanie Zimmerman Chicago Sun-Times Utility bills can be confusing, but the nonpartisan Citizens Utility Board of Illinois has helped save consumers an estimated $20 billion in blocked rate hikes and refunds over the past 40 years. Yet not everyone knows about the group’s role in representing ratepayers, says CUB’s…...
News release: CUB urges ICC to cut ComEd rate hike
As CUB prepared to argue that state regulators should cut Commonwealth Edison’s $678 million rate-hike request, the consumer group has identified hundreds of millions of dollars in excessive spending proposed by Illinois’ largest electric utility. (Read the full CUB news release from Tuesday, Nov. 19.) “We urge the Illinois Commerce Commission…...
Thank you, Illinois consumers: Executive Director’s 2024 End-of-Year Report
By Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board Below is my year-in-review for 2024–the Citizens Utility Board’s 40th anniversary. This is a snapshot of how hard the CUB team (pictured at the bottom of this article) is working for you and all Illinois consumers. I’m proud of the great work…...
Rip-off Alert: Paying more than triple for power?
This summer CUB found consumers in different parts of Illinois paying an electricity supply rate with Clearview Energy that was more than triple what they would have paid with their utilities. At a utility-bill clinic in Lansing in June, CUB found that Dan was paying Clearview 22.99 cents per kilowatt-hour…...
News Release: State regulatory judge recommends IL American Water receive $109.8 million rate hike, CUB urges ICC to cut it further
A state regulatory judge has recommended that Illinois American Water receive a $109.8 million rate hike, but CUB is urging the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to cut the increase further when it issues a final order before the end of the year. (Read CUB’s news release.) The Proposed Order, submitted…...