By Sagar Dommaraju Northern Illinois consumers with alternative electricity suppliers have lost $188.6 million over the last two years, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) in an annual electric competition report. The ICC’s Office of Retail Market Development said in its annual report that Illinois consumers with another supplier lost…...
Electric competition: Not the money saver it once was
The times are a’changing. When electric competition began in northern Illinois, it seemed like a sure bet for savings. ComEd’s price at the time was high and electric customers could easily find deals by shopping the market of unregulated suppliers. But the era of easy savings is over, for now, in…...
Protect my cable!
Comcast announced plans to buy Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal that unites the nation’s two largest cable/Internet providers. Before that happens, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) must approve the merger. Cable customers have for years expressed frustration about lack of options, poor service and astronomical prices. We can’t…...
CUB Survey: To merge or not to merge?
Comcast, the largest cable/Internet provider in the country, recently announced plans to take over Time Warner Cable, the second largest provider, for $45.2 billion–pending approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. Opponents of the deal maintain that it could seriously compromise competition, net neutrality, and customer…...
It’s a new electricity market in Illinois
Even as consumers flocked to alternative electricity suppliers to take advantage of prices that were sometimes 50 percent lower than the traditional utilities, CUB warned that this was just the honeymoon phase for the state’s power market. Now it appears that the honeymoon is over. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that…...
