As CUB prepared to argue that state regulators should cut Commonwealth Edison’s $678 million rate-hike request, the consumer group has identified hundreds of millions of dollars in excessive spending proposed by Illinois’ largest electric utility. (Read the full CUB news release from Tuesday, Nov. 19.) “We urge the Illinois Commerce Commission…...
Thank you, Illinois consumers: Executive Director’s 2024 End-of-Year Report
By Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board Below is my year-in-review for 2024–the Citizens Utility Board’s 40th anniversary. This is a snapshot of how hard the CUB team (pictured at the bottom of this article) is working for you and all Illinois consumers. I’m proud of the great work…...
Rip-off Alert: Paying more than triple for power?
This summer CUB found consumers in different parts of Illinois paying an electricity supply rate with Clearview Energy that was more than triple what they would have paid with their utilities. At a utility-bill clinic in Lansing in June, CUB found that Dan was paying Clearview 22.99 cents per kilowatt-hour…...
Illinois Future of Gas: Electrification Meeting Pt. I – November 4, 2024
By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist Today’s Future of Gas workshop began with an announcement: between now and Dec. 6, 2024, the ICC will be accepting decarbonization pilot project ideas from interested stakeholders. It wasn’t immediately clear how these pilots could be put into effect–or indeed if they ever would…...
CUB update: What about those appliance rebates in the Inflation Reduction Act?
CUB gets a lot of questions from consumers wondering when they’ll be able to enjoy appliance rebates offered through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). We’ve got information about where Illinois is in the process of launching that rebate program–as well as some proposed changes to it. The IRA, federal legislation…...
Illinois Future of Gas: The Energy Efficiency Meeting
By Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist The purpose of this workshop (10/21/24) was to discuss the role and importance of energy efficiency in decarbonizing the gas system. In a word, I’d describe this workshop as “dizzying.” During these workshops I’ve become accustomed to the gas industry making fantastical claims that…...
PJM broke the capacity auction–but here’s how they can fix it
By Clara Summers, Campaign Manager Consumers for a Better Grid (a project of CUB) The electricity price for Illinois’ largest power utility, Commonwealth Edison, will go up significantly next summer because of a recent auction to secure reserve power. Grid operator PJM announced that its recent “capacity” auction sent prices…...
News Release: State regulatory judge recommends IL American Water receive $109.8 million rate hike, CUB urges ICC to cut it further
A state regulatory judge has recommended that Illinois American Water receive a $109.8 million rate hike, but CUB is urging the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to cut the increase further when it issues a final order before the end of the year. (Read CUB’s news release.) The Proposed Order, submitted…...
PowerMarket: CUB’s evaluation of PowerMarket’s community solar offer
PowerMarket is a community solar company offering subscriptions to income-eligible ComEd and Ameren customers. If you are not already familiar with Community Solar, we recommend reading CUB’s Introduction to Community Solar first. This is an income-eligible offer, but it is not through the state program designed for lower-income customers, Illinois…...
