Today, we need your help. A generous CUB benefactor has agreed to match all donations, up to a total of $1,000, this week only! Please, join CUB’s Double Your Donation challenge so that we can fight these 2016 battles: ComEd-parent Exelon is still pressuring Springfield to raise bills by $1.6 billion over 5…...
CUB’s guide to avoiding bad gas deals
Gas customers in Illinois have the option of choosing an unregulated alternative gas company instead of the regulated utility for their gas supply. Making the right choice, however, can be hard work! And now that utility heating prices are at their lowest in nearly 15 years, it is more important than…...
Did Peoples Gas mislead state regulators? New AG/CUB filing makes the case
In a recent filing before state regulators, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and CUB argue that Peoples Gas “knowingly misled” state regulators or withheld from them the $8 billion estimated cost of a troubled pipe-replacement program. The AG/CUB pleading, filed on Feb. 4, argues that utility officials may not have disclosed the figure–which…...
Enter CUB’s smart thermostat giveaway!
Ever dial down the thermostat to frosty temperatures just to save a few bucks on your heating bill? At CUB, we’re about savings without the sacrifice. That’s why we’re offering you the chance to win a free money-saving device for your home. Smart thermostats allow you to conveniently control temperatures from…...
Supreme Court decision big win for all electricity customers
On Monday regulators and consumer advocates won a major victory against big power generators at the U.S. Supreme Court—and that’s good news for anyone who pays a power bill. In simple terms, the case (FERC v. Electric Power Supply Assocaition) was an argument over whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission…...
Net neutrality still in danger!
We fought for the free and open Internet…and won. But now Big Internet is trying to roll back that victory. Cable, telecom, and wireless trade groups recently took the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to court to overturn historic net neutrality regulations. Those rules came about after consumers filed 4 million…...
Bring Google Fiber to Chicago!
Shopping for Internet in Chicago can feel like a game of Monopoly: Few options, limited competition, and high prices. Fortunately, Google, Inc. may introduce Google Fiber—the company’s high-speed, high-tech Internet service—to Chicago. Finally, we’d have a little competition! The company announced in December 2015 that it was eyeing up the Windy…...
Breaking: ‘Slam dunk’ for electric customers at the Supreme Court
It’s never easy taking on big energy companies, but then there are days like this. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling in support of an important efficiency program called Demand Response. Read CUB’s statement. Demand Response is any program in which power grid operators pay electricity users to…...
Beware bad gas deals
With federal predictions that we could pay the lowest winter heating bills in more than a decade, be careful to avoid bad gas deals peddled by alternative suppliers. For roughly 15 years, Northern Illinois consumers have been able to choose another company to supply their natural gas–other than the regulated utilities, North…...
EIA: ‘U.S. households will pay the lowest…gas bills this winter in more than a decade’
Aside from this week’s brutal cold, warmer-than-normal winter weather is a big reason natural gas prices have plunged. Over the last four months, average prices for the major utilities have dropped by as much as 49 percent. “U.S. households will pay the lowest heating oil and natural gas bills this winter in…...
