The pandemic may hang over this holiday season, but there’s still plenty of reason to get in the spirit and decorate your home. Americans spend about $233 million on holiday lights each year, according to Wired magazine, so CUB has tips to help you cut down on your electricity costs. Switch to…...
Beware High Bills! A Halloween Special
Although Halloween classics like Count Dracula, Freddie Krueger and Michael Meyers cause a fright, few things are scarier than paying high energy bills. In honor of the spooky season, CUB staffer Cate York created a new video, “Beware High Bills: A Halloween Special.” It’s a fun, quick summary of the…...
Consumer Alert: Could alt suppliers be knocking on your door again?
Breaking News Update, Nov. 5: Victory for Consumers! The Illinois Commerce Commission voted 3-2 today to keep the moratorium in place. Thank you to all the Illinoisans who used CUB’s Action Network to help send 1,000 messages to state regulators in favor of keeping the ban in place. Your activism makes…...
A CUB How-To: Downloading Your Bills
CUB often encourages consumers to sign up for online billing through their utility. It’s convenient and easy, and there are oftentimes perks or programs that are only available through an online account. But navigating a new online space can be confusing, so CUB staffer Cate put together a few videos…...
CUB Analysis: Put low-income communities at heart of state EV policy
With the right electric vehicle (EV) policies, Illinois can deliver cleaner air, low-cost transportation options and lower energy costs for all consumers, particularly in neighborhoods most burdened by pollution, poverty and high power bills, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) argues in a new analysis released Wednesday. At a time when…...
Energy rip-offs have hit low-income communities hard, but here’s another reason the HEAT Act gives us hope
At CUB, we get reports that customers enrolled with alternative suppliers have been charged double or triple (or worse) for their electricity—and marketers have long preyed on the neighborhoods that can least afford to pay high power bills. That’s yet another reason we’re dedicated to making sure a new reform…...
Consumer advocates fight for extended COVID-19 protections for utility customers
After a historic agreement between consumer advocates and Illinois’ major utilities, state regulators are now considering the most comprehensive COVID-19 utility relief measures in the country. This plan could serve as a national model for helping utility customers struggling to pay their bills during the worst economic crisis since the…...
IL power bills lowest in the Midwest (again)–but that advantage is threatened
For the seventh consecutive year, Illinois had the lowest average electricity bills in the Midwest, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). But nobody thinks power bills are low—there’s more work to do. That’s why CUB and other consumer/environmental advocates are pushing Illinois to pass the Clean Energy Jobs…...
The HEAT Act: One of the nation’s toughest consumer protection laws against gas and electric rip-offs
In a victory for consumers, the Illinois General Assembly has unanimously passed and the governor has signed one of the nation’s toughest consumer-protection laws to fight rip-offs peddled by alternative electric and gas suppliers. At the end of May, the Illinois General Assembly unanimously passed the Home Energy Affordability and…...
