By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist Alternative fuels was the theme of the eighth Future of Gas workshop. Advocates often refer to alternative fuels and decarbonization technologies (like so-called “renewable” natural gas, hydrogen and carbon capture connected to coal plants) as “false solutions” because they fail to truly deliver the…...
News Release: Breakthrough Agreement with Ameren will Accelerate Clean Energy, Cut Costs with Smarter Grid Planning
Today the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) have announced they reached a settlement with Ameren to integrate grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) into transmission planning in its service territory in Illinois, helping maximize customer benefits of Ameren’s transmission investments. (CUB Note: This…...
CUB statement on Ameren’s proposed $134 million gas rate hike
Ameren Illinois has proposed a $134.4 million gas rate hike in 2025. The following is a statement from CUB. CUB will challenge Ameren’s Illinois’ proposed gas rate hike. Ameren has already won $111 million in gas rate hikes since 2021, helping to plunge too many consumers across Illinois into crisis…...
Illinois Future of Gas: Geothermal Energy Meeting – December 16, 2024
By: Scott Allen, Energy Policy Specialist The final Future of Gas workshop of 2024 was possibly the most optimistic one to date. The theme of this workshop was geothermal energy and thermal energy networks (or, TENs) Geothermal energy and energy networks are both interesting and practical, and, as we heard…...
Joint News Release: Consumer Groups Launch Major TV Ad Campaign Urging Public to Oppose Record-Breaking Peoples Gas Rate Hikes
With Chicago families already ailing from a decade of spiraling heating bills, an alliance of consumer and public-interest groups Wednesday launched a major advertising blitz aimed at thwarting a threat by Peoples Gas that would usher in an onslaught of record-breaking rate hikes over the next 15 years. (View a PDF…...
Casework Roundup: Enough! Gas utility pushes for record rate hike
The ink was barely dry on rate hikes granted electric and water utilities in 2024 when Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois proposed new gas increases for 2025—including one that would be the largest gas increase in Illinois history. Also, Peoples Gas has filed papers with state regulators indicating it might…...
Making a Difference: CUB Consumer Advocacy team’s good work saves people money
CUB’s Consumer Advocacy team spends most of their days answering people’s calls and emails about utility bills and service. In 2024, this team (Annie, Danielle, Sandra) handled more than 1,600 consumer inquiries, saving individual utility customers a total of $48,054. Below are examples of people whom we’ve advocated for in…...
News Release: Groups deliver more than 5,000 public comments calling for reform of Peoples Gas pipe replacement program
As utility regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) near a final decision on its year-long investigation into the troubled Peoples Gas pipeline-replacement program, consumer and environmental organizations delivered more than 5,000 public comments calling for reform. “On behalf of AARP’s 250,000 members in Chicago and all older adults in…...
New electric rates for ComEd and Ameren customers in 2025
In December 2024, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) granted a $606 million hike in delivery rates for ComEd and a $309 million increase for Ameren. The rulings were a step in the right direction in that they cut hundreds of millions of dollars in wasteful spending proposed by both utilities, reduced…...
CUB Statement on Nicor Gas’ Proposed $309 Million Rate Hike
Nicor Gas’ campaign for a state-record rate hike of about $308.6 million–which is closer to $325 million when including taxes–is unjustified, and CUB will fight it. Illinois’ largest gas utility has now asked for five brutal rate hikes in less than a decade, causing hardship for customers by increasing gas…...
