Jason Knowles, a sharp reporter for ABC 7’s I-Team, did a hard-hitting report this week on high natural gas rates from unregulated suppliers in the Chicago region. Jason’s interview with a consumer whose gas bill skyrocketed featured this wonderful quote: “It’s not a designer handbag that you can charge what…...
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…...
Would the real regulated gas company please stand up?
Annette Evans, consumer rights associate at CUB, recently received a call from a consumer whose gas bill had mysteriously skyrocketed to nearly $600. After some sleuthing, Annette discovered the culprit: without her knowledge, the consumer had been signed up with Nicor Advanced Energy— an unregulated sister company of the utility…...
Rip-off response
Earlier this week, we issued tips to protect yourself from bad deals in the natural gas market. More than 1,800 of you responded to our accompanying survey, and about 56 percent of you said you had encountered a pitch from an alternative gas supplier. Here were some of your experiences: “The person…...
