As of Jan. 1, the electric rates for both Ameren and ComEd customers have changed. For Ameren electric customers, rates have dropped about $14.5 million. However, CUB believes customers deserve an even bigger cut: a total of $22 million. That’s why the watchdog filed a petition of rehearing with the…...
Utility spending on rate-hike cases shows what CUB is up against
Since 2010, Illinois’ biggest utilities have spent $40 million trying to raise consumer rates before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC)—an amount that could fund CUB’s entire outreach, legal and consumer advocacy operations for at least 15 years. The lofty figure illustrates what CUB’s legal and policy teams are up against…...
What we’re doing on our summer vacation
By Sagar Dommaraju This summer, or any other time, CUB’s not taking a vacation from rate-hike battles. ComEd has asked for a $138 million rate increase to help pay for upgrades to the power grid. CUB’s legal team is analyzing the proposal to weed out wasteful spending. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC)…...
Help Julie and Christie fight rate hikes!
CUB has launched its annual consumer campaign in June to rally Illinoisans against billions of dollars in rate hikes. We hope every community in Illinois signs our Rate-hike Fighters Petition. Take a look at the rate-hike battles CUB General Counsel Julie Soderna and Senior Attorney Christie R. Hicks are juggling before…...
ComEd wants $138 M rate hike
ComEd today filed for a $138 million rate hike. CUB Executive Director David Kolata vowed to fight it: “CUB plans to carefully review ComEd’s proposal and do everything we can to eliminate wasteful spending and reduce the rate hike as much as possible. ComEd has launched historic improvements to the power…...
Why Northern Illinois should care about the rate hikes in Central and Southern Illinois
Lately we’ve been discussing an Illinois electricity auction that sparked a 12-35% price spike for many Central and Southern Illinois customers. The spike was due to an increase in capacity prices—what consumers pay to ensure power plants can deliver electricity on the highest-demand days of the year. Every spring, MISO (the…...
IL Attorney General: Stop rate hikes in Southern and Central IL!
Let’s pump the brakes on these Ameren rate hikes. That’s the message coming loud and clear from the Illinois Attorney General’s office. And it’s a message CUB wholeheartedly echoes. AG Lisa Madigan and consumer advocate group Public Citizen petitioned federal regulators yesterday to overturn a recent electricity auction that will lead to huge…...
Hey FERC: Investigate the rate hike!
Ameren customers recently received terrible news: Power prices will skyrocket June 1. It’s all because of an exponential increase in capacity costs—what consumers pay to ensure power plants are able to deliver electricity on the highest-demand days of the year. The average household could see electric bills rise by as much as $150 annually…...
Attorney General: Pump the brakes on Peoples pipeline project
In light of ballooning costs and allegations of mismanagement, Attorney General Madigan is asking Peoples Gas to back down from a pledge to complete its massive pipeline replacement project by 2030. In a brief filed March 27 with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), Madigan said that Peoples’ project has fallen seriously behind schedule…...