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…...
Big deal! Peoples/North Shore parent to be gobbled up for $9 billion
Wisconsin Energy Corp announced this morning that it plans to purchase Integrys Energy Group, Inc.– parent company to Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas– for $9.1 billion. The combined company will serve 4.3 million electric and gas customers across Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The deal is set to close in…...
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…...
