By Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board Nicor Gas usually delivers the heat, but at a recent Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) public forum in Joliet the utility was the one on the hot seat–over escalating bills. One Nicor customer walked to the microphone and directly addressed the utility bigwigs who…...
Overbilled by $720? After she spent 50+ hours on phone with AT&T, CUB helps end her “nightmare”
CUB helped end a Chicago consumer’s year-long “nightmare” with AT&T after the telecom giant’s mistake inflated her internet bill to 10 times what it usually was. Ms. C. contacted CUB in late February, but her problem with AT&T had begun a year earlier, when her Internet modem needed replacing. Instead…...
Breaking: CUB statement on final passage of budget bill
A statement from Jim Chilsen, Director of Communications, Citizens Utility Board (CUB): The budget reconciliation bill that passed today represents higher power bills for consumers in Illinois and across the country. Tax credits that help everyday people use solar power or energy efficiency to cut costs at home are wildly…...
CUB Q&A: Feds want to hit us with higher electric bills to prop up expensive, out-of-state power plants
This summer, electricity prices are skyrocketing. Starting June 1, consumers started to feel the heat of poor decision-making at our regional grid operators, PJM and MISO. Unfortunately, there is more bad news: the federal Department of Energy is ordering two expensive, out-of-state power plants on the verge of retirement to…...
Warning: Be careful of high prices connected to municipal aggregation offers
We’ve warned consumers about sales reps trying to use the Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison price spikes as a way to lure people into bad energy deals–but what about another type of electricity choice: “municipal aggregation,” a.k.a. community power deals through your city, town, or county? We reviewed current aggregation…...
CUB’s free events in June
In what could be an expensive summer for Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois customers, CUB’s Outreach team will travel across the state of Illinois to staff free events giving consumers tips on energy efficiency for their homes, how clean energy can cut their utility bills and how they can protect…...
Considering solar? CUB encourages you to use Illinois Shines’ Homeowner Handout
CUB encourages consumers to utilize the newly launched resource, Illinois Shines: Selecting a Solar Company: Green and Red Flags, to make informed decisions regarding going solar. This is the first handout in the Illinois Power Agency’s (IPA) Homeowner Handout Series, which is part of an expanding resource library designed to…...
High-bill Alert: Consumers face multiple electric/gas rate hikes—so who’s cashing in?
Special report: Illinois consumers in 2025 are being threatened with rate hikes on both sides of the bill—supply and delivery—as big energy companies and utilities push for windfall profits. Energy Price Spikes In April alone, most Illinois utilities saw gas prices jump by up to 104 percent, compared to last…...
