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Electric bills

What’s your worst utility bill?

2014 has already been a rough year for consumers.  Natural gas price spikes.  Brutal electric rate-hike requests.  Ominous cable mergers.  It’s enough to tear your hair out! CUB is ready to crown Illinois’ most hated bill, and needs your input.  What’s your biggest utility bill headache: Electric? Gas? Phone? Cable? Vote by noon…...

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CUB’s Earth Day Giveaway has a winner!

Congratulations to Sarah, the winner of CUB’s Earth Day Giveaway! She’s just won $25 off her next utility bill as well as an energy efficiency kit: an LED, a smart power strip, and a Kill A Watt. Runner-up winners were Nancy and Mary-Jo. Each will receive an LED bulb. Congrats! Sarah,…...

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Brutal April: Ameren, ComEd ask for $481 M in electric rate hikes

We knew these rate-hike requests were coming, but they still hurt. In April, ComEd and Ameren have asked for a total of $481 million in rate hikes, which would take effect in January 2015. Here’s CUB’s statement: “This month, Ameren and ComEd have filed for $481 million in electric rate hikes—about…...

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You’ll need an aspirin for these headaches

At CUB, we couldn’t do the work we do—saving individual  consumers hundreds of dollars on their utility bills, advocating for consumer protections in Springfield, and fighting rate-hike hungry energy companies—without support and input from our members.  That’s why we sent a survey out last November asking you  to rate your…...

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Exelon’s ‘radioactive’ bailout plan?

The electricity market has been very good to ComEd-parent Exelon over the last decade, helping the company reap more than $21 billion in profits thanks to high power prices and its fleet of nuclear power plants. But times have changed: Wholesale prices have fallen, thanks to a surge in natural…...

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“She’s phenomenal!”

We received a call recently from a consumer ecstatic over the savings she discovered after speaking with one of our staffers at a utility bill clinic in Elmhurst. Theresia, of Wood Dale, learned how to shave $53.10 per month off her bills, thanks to guidance from CUB Environmental Outreach Coordinator Laura Goldberg.…...

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Drumroll please…

More than 400 CUB supporters voted this week in our 30th Anniversary Cartoon Contest to pick their favorite artwork over the years.  The results are in, and the winning CUB cartoon is…. (Guess you all are fed up with those tedious customer service lines!) We are also happy to announce our grand…...

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How the Polar Vortex could still hit you… in June!

Winter may be over, but the pain of the polar vortex may soon show up on your energy bill. Alternative power supplier FirstEnergy intends to bill customers a one-time June surcharge to recover unexpectedly high costs incurred during the polar vortex, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. Ninety-eight of the 180 communities…...

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Chicago Power Deal

The City of Chicago recently negotiated a new rate with Integrys Energy to fulfill the last 12 months of a 28-month municipal aggregation deal.  The bad news for consumers: rates are going up.  The less-bad news: rates are going up across the board for electricity in June, regardless of your supplier–and most…...

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Municipal aggregation referenda results

Residents in 82 communities or counties have voted on whether they want local leaders to negotiate their power prices with ComEd or Ameren competitors. Here’s an example of the referendum:  Shall the (Name of county/municipality) have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small…...

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