The following is a report from CUB General Counsel Eric DeBellis to Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz on major cases CUB’s Legal Team is tackling in 2026, including $571 million in rate cases before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). If you are concerned about these rate hikes, please take action by signing…...
CUB Q&A: AT&T letters announce end of landline service in 2027
AT&T has mailed letters to customers announcing that it is ending “AT&T Residential Local Service,” the traditional copper landline service, a.k.a. plain old telephone service. Here’s our Q&A on what’s happening (pdf version of this blog). What do the letters mean? For over a decade, the telecom giant has been…...
Consumer advocates, Rep. Du Buclet issue warning against alternative electric/gas supplier rip-offs, make urgent call for legislative reforms
As financial losses mount for Illinois consumers with alternative electric and gas suppliers, the watchdog Citizens Utility Board (CUB) has joined with other consumer advocates and state Rep. Kimberly Du Buclet to advocate for the No More Utility Bill Rip-Offs Customer Protection Act (House Bill 4313), a series of reforms…...
Spring is in the air: CUB’s money-saving events in March
CUB’s Outreach team travels across the state to staff free events, giving consumers energy efficiency tips for their home, educating them on how clean energy can cut their utility bills and helping people protect themselves from scams and rip-offs. As the winter snow begins to thaw, people are starting to…...
Consumer alert: Illinois utility bills cover millions in hidden expenses that advance the utilities’ agendas, but have zero consumer benefit
Many Illinois consumers have no idea that their electric, gas and water bills cover tens of millions of dollars in self-serving utility expenses that have zero consumer benefit, but advance the agendas of Illinois utilities and increase their political power, consumer advocates warned Wednesday, while delivering thousands of petitions to…...
Making data centers pay their fair share
A data center is a facility that houses computer systems used for storing, processing and distributing digital information. They use a tremendous amount of electricity–the largest facilities can consume as much energy as 100,000 households a year (a mid-sized city)! Across the United States, data center electricity use has more than doubled…...
CUB Q&A: community solar billing
CUB regularly receives questions about community solar billing, so we put together this Q&A. What is Community Solar? Community solar is a program for people who can’t put solar on their own homes. It allows consumers to save money on their electric bills from energy produced by large, offsite community…...
CUB Capitol Report: Our 2026 Legislative Agenda Aims to Fight Rip-offs, Rein in High Private Water Bills, Eliminate Ridiculous Utility Charges, Make AT&T Pay Up
By Bryan McDanielCUB Director of Governmental Affairs Springfield’s November Veto Session was busy with the passage of the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act. CUB supported the bill as a response to rapidly rising power prices–but there is more work to do, as data centers continue to place a…...
