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Alternative suppliers

[Call to Action] These Scams Must End

You can help us right a wrong in Illinois. Check out this list of terrible gas supplier deals CUB found consumers paying at one of our utility-bill clinics this year. $1.32 per therm (312% higher than utility rate at the time) $1.16 per therm (262% higher than utility rate at the time) 70¢ per therm (118% higher than utility rate at…...

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Alternative supplier salesman gives customer simple script to close sale: ‘Say yes’

When Delores met James, a salesman from Illinois Gas & Electric, she says she was a bit confused by his offer, but he insisted it was a good deal. She wanted to take notes, but James never gave her pen back after borrowing it to write on her bill. And what…...

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He told the alternative supplier: I know the mayor doesn’t endorse your offer—because I am the mayor!

Crest Hill Mayor Raymond Soliman doesn’t need to be warned about misleading door-to-door pitches by alternative electric suppliers. A salesman once lied to him in his own front yard—and it was a doozy. At a recent utility bill clinic in Crest Hill, he shared the story with Lead Service Liaison…...

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CUB comes face-to-face with a sketchy alternative supplier

CUB warns consumers that alternative supplier plans can cost you a lot more than what you’d pay with your regulated utility. At a recent event, CUB’s Outreach Assistant Anairis Boror had an interesting encounter with people who seemed to be representing an alternative supplier. Anairis was working CUB’s table at…...

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Grim statistic: Record losses for supplier customers

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) recently reported that over the past year, customers of alternative electric suppliers lost a record $227.6 million, compared with what they would have paid with the regulated utilities, ComEd or Ameren. The electric market is in need of reform—but energy giants, like Exelon and Vistra,…...

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ICC report shows record losses with alternative electric suppliers

CUB warns consumers that enrolling with an alternative supplier could lead to paying higher electric and gas bills. In fact, losses at the hands of electric suppliers reached a record high of $227.6 million over the past year, according to the 2018 annual report of the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office…...

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Anatomy of a Bad Deal

When Robert Smith’s gas bills suddenly shot up, he was confused. He was supposed to be paying less for gas with alternative gas supplier Energy Rewards than with the regulated utility in his area, Nicor. So he sat down to compare what he had been paying with Energy Rewards to…...

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Low supplier rates don’t guarantee big savings

Consumers sometimes enroll with alternative suppliers because the rates appear lower than the regulated utility, but be careful that such plans could have an additional monthly fee. Every week, I update fact sheets listing alternative supplier prices, compared with the the rates of regulated utilities. By my count, about a…...

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Urgent: Fight electric/gas rip-offs in Springfield

Due to events in Springfield, we are making an urgent request to help us fight electric and gas rip-offs. Please send a message to the Illinois House in support of House Amendment 4 to Senate Bill 1531. The amendment would, among other things: Require the utility’s supply price to be…...

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What this millennial learned about alternative electric suppliers

As someone who still lives at home with her parents (for now), I never paid too much attention to electric bills…until I came to CUB. My name is Jennifer, CUB’s new Communications Assistant and a millennial utility-expert-in-training. I didn’t even know Illinoisans could choose a supplier other than ComEd, but…...

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