By Samantha Vercellino As cold grips the Midwest in the opening days of December, we’re forced to welcome natural gas prices that are up to 30 percent higher. Major Illinois utilities are charging consumers 13-30 percent more to heat their homes this December compared to last. Peoples Gas showed the…...
A less expensive winter?
By Samantha Vercellino The weather may be bitter cold now, but experts are predicting milder overall temperatures this winter, bringing Midwesterners out of their temporary hibernation, and hopefully, giving us a break on our bills. How big a break? Chicago utility Peoples Gas, which charged the highest gas rates in the state…...
Bracing for winter? CUB is!
At CUB we’re preparing for another busy winter. Are you ready? In the first half of 2014, CUB’s crew handled 2,507 complaints/inquiries from gas and electric customers reeling from polar vortex price spikes. That’s a 79 percent increase from the previous year. Despite this week’s burst of winter, the cold season isn’t…...
Hallelujah! Feds expect lower heating bills this winter
By Samantha Vercellino With federal experts predicting natural gas, electricity and propane costs to fall this winter due to above-average temperatures, Midwesterners can sleep a bit easier knowing another polar vortex blast doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. Warmer winter weather and lower fuel consumption means Midwesterners will pay…...
What is your gas utility charging in October?
Last winter’s polar vortex blast sparked a jump in Illinois natural gas prices that ranged from 9-80 percent. Now, about a half-year later, the gas prices are finally coming down to more normal levels–just as another winter approaches. We’ll keep an eye on the weather reports–it looks like it might not be as…...
They made how much?
We’re fighting the utilities in nearly $1 billion in rate-hike battles, but a review of their parent companies’ 2nd quarter earnings would have more than a few Illinois consumers scratching their heads as to why the companies need all that extra cash. The parent companies of ComEd, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas,…...
How the Wisconsin Energy-Integrys deal benefits Chicago customers: (crickets)
The headline in Crain’s Chicago Business says it all: What’s the sale of Integrys do for Chicago? Not much Yesterday, Wisconsin Energy announced that it was buying Integrys, the parent company of Chicago-area utilities Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, in a $9.1 billion deal. But for a company pulling…...
