About 1,200 Aqua Illinois customers in Lake County spent about a week under shoddy water service and a boil order. It’s the latest concern connected to private water companies, as they blow through hundreds of millions of dollars of their customers’ money to buy up water systems in cities and…...
Longtime consumer advocate Sarah Moskowitz succeeds David Kolata as CUB Executive Director
Sarah Moskowitz, who during a two-decade career at the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) has advocated for thousands of utility customers and pioneered the group’s nation-leading Outreach program, will now head Illinois’ top utility watchdog, succeeding David Kolata, who concludes an acclaimed 18-year tenure at the organization’s helm, the CUB Board…...
CUB Q&A: Peoria’s Power Deal
Ameren Illinois is the electric utility that serves Central and Southern Illinois. But while Ameren will always deliver the power to your home over its wires, under state law you can choose an alternative company to supply you with electricity. (That means a company other than Ameren will purchase electricity…...
CUB working to cut Peoples Gas hike by $100+ million
With Peoples Gas making record profits while customers struggle to afford their bills under the utility’s mismanaged pipeline-replacement program, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Thursday it is working to reduce the utility’s record rate-hike request by more than $100 million. CUB Executive Director David Kolata said the consumer group’s…...
Summer power prices for Ameren and ComEd
Ameren Illinois and ComEd supply customers will be paying new prices for electricity on June 1, as market prices ease. Prices skyrocketed last year, caused by a number of factors, including the volatility of the natural gas market, made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gas, which is often…...
CUB partners with GAOI, MREA to launch its first-ever geothermal group-buy program
For the first time in its history, a top Illinois consumer watchdog is helping to launch an innovative program to help Chicago-area consumers install a geothermal heat pump system at a discount and cut their utility bills. The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is partnering with the Geothermal Alliance of Illinois…...
Teacher says CUB website invaluable in battling alternative supplier ‘scamsters’
Carolyn helps teach English as a second language–but her lessons have gone far beyond grammar. One day a student mentioned to the Champaign-area teacher that her utility bills had gone through the roof. What Carolyn uncovered was a problem all too common for Illinois consumers. A salesman from an alternative…...
