We have some great news today. A longtime CUB supporter has offered to match all donations! That’s right: anything you donate will be doubled today only. This couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. The utility parent companies have already raked in more than $8 billion in 2014 profits,…...
The $105 million cramming settlement: what you need to know
Last week, we brought you great news: Federal regulators, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and her counterparts from across the nation have reached a $105 million settlement with AT&T to settle claims that its customers were hit with unauthorized third-party charges. It’s a scam called “cramming,” and we couldn’t be happier to hear that authorities are…...
Act now to avoid skyrocketing electric prices
We’ve been updating you on two developments that could have disastrous consequences for your power bills. Now’s the time to act to protect YOUR interests. ComEd customers: Tell Congress to fix a terrible court ruling that could increase your rates by 20% A recent federal court ruling stripped power grid operator PJM (the…...
Nobel Prize winners put LEDs in the spotlight
Three scientists earned this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the blue light-emitting diode (LED)–an essential part of creating white light from LED lamps. Red and green LEDs had been around since the 1960s, but blue LEDs had been a challenge for scientists for years. In the 1990s, however, Isamu Akasaki,…...
$105 million settlement another win against one nasty cellphone scam
CUB’s consumer advocates were happy to read the headlines this morning: AT&T will pay $105 million to settle claims that its customers were hit with unauthorized third-party charges. Federal regulators, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and the nation’s other attorneys general say its the largest settlement in history involving cramming–when…...
Hallelujah! Feds expect lower heating bills this winter
By Samantha Vercellino With federal experts predicting natural gas, electricity and propane costs to fall this winter due to above-average temperatures, Midwesterners can sleep a bit easier knowing another polar vortex blast doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. Warmer winter weather and lower fuel consumption means Midwesterners will pay…...
An expensive court decision for ComEd customers
We told you last week about an Appellate Court decision that could increase future ComEd power prices by 20 percent! It all revolves around energy efficiency programs known as “Demand Response”– aka”negawatts.” That’s when the manager of the power grid, an organization called PJM, pays huge industrial customers to shift…...
