Illinois consumers who buy their electricity from alternative suppliers collectively paid $431 million more in the last year than they would have by sticking with their utility, according to a new report from the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development. From May 31, 2020 through May 31, 2021,…...
New power prices for June 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021
As of June 1, ComEd and Ameren are charging new prices for electricity. It’s important that you know the price for electricity to protect yourself from bad deals being peddled by alternative power suppliers. Illinois consumers have lost more than $1 billion to these suppliers since 2015. Under these market…...
Clearway: CUB’s evaluation of a new community solar offer
This is an evaluation of Clearway’s community solar offering. (If you are not already familiar with community solar, we recommend reading our Introduction to Community Solar first.) How will signing up for the Clearway community solar offer affect my electric bill? Clearway will look at your energy usage history to determine…...
CUB-Northwestern partnership yields new outreach materials
A class of Northwestern undergraduate students worked with CUB over the spring semester to fill gaps in the utility watchdog’s outreach efforts. Although COVID-19 and Illinois’ stay-at-home order caused the student teams to rethink aspects of their projects, CUB now has new and improved outreach materials, as well as new…...
Chicago City Council supports CEJA, “puts us on the right path” to a clean energy future
In a boost to the fight for clean, affordable energy, the Chicago City Council unanimously passed a resolution today supporting the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). CEJA puts Illinois “on the right path” to a clean energy future, said Ald. George Cardenas, as he introduced the resolution. Cardenas is chairman…...
Take action for Efficiency!
Watching daily developments in Washington, it’s easy to get discouraged. But as a nonpartisan group that works to lower utility bills, we want to alert you about good legislation on Capitol Hill—and give you a chance to take action. Just last week, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee recommended that…...
The day in the life of a CUB outreach staffer…
By Annabelle Roser As solar energy becomes more accessible to everyday consumers, the financial incentives of owning solar panels can be hard to pass up. The benefits of subsidizing or eliminating your energy bills through net-metering can be especially enticing to retirees or those on fixed incomes. Recently, I met…...