If you’re struggling to pay your utility bills during this expensive winter, you’re not alone. CUB has some guidance on what steps to take. 1) Call Your Utility. As the utility company is the entity issuing the bill and the only entity with access to your account, your first call—no…...
Crain’s Chicago Business: City of Chicago, Illinois AG call for far higher ComEd bribery rebate
The Illinois attorney general’s office and the city of Chicago yesterday urged the Illinois Commerce Commission to more than double the refund Commonwealth Edison should make to ratepayers over its admitted bribery scheme. In testimony filed with the ICC, the state’s chief consumer advocate, the city and the Citizens Utility…...
2021 Year in Review: Fighting for historic legislation, beating back millions in higher rates
Amid an ongoing pandemic and skyrocketing energy prices, CUB in 2021 sued a scandal-plagued utility, beat back millions of dollars in rate hikes and helped pass historic energy legislation. “I am proud of how our staff battled through yet another difficult year, but consumers deserve the credit,” CUB Executive David…...
General Assembly passes historic energy bill: Now begins the hard work of implementation
The General Assembly has passed landmark energy legislation that consumer and environmental advocates have worked for years to achieve. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act puts Illinois on a path to 100 percent clean energy while implementing the strongest utility ethics reforms and energy efficiency provisions in state history. And…...
Updates on CUB’s fight to rein in alternative suppliers behaving badly
When CUB helped pass historic consumer protections against alternative supplier rip-offs, the watchdog made it clear that the hard work was just beginning. “We look forward to working with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and Attorney General (Kwame) Raoul to help enforce these new rules and build a better market…...
Washington Post: Nearly 1% of all Illinois residences were cut off for nonpayment in October 2020
In a special report from Peoria, Washington Post reporter Greg Jaffe uncovered grim statistics about shut-offs in that Central Illinois city. It indicates, as one researcher said, that our social safety net is in “grave need of repair.” Jaffe reports: As the pandemic dragged on month after month, hundreds struggled…...
Ballooning bills, silent customer service: CUB joins ICC probe into three alternative suppliers
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) is investigating three alternative suppliers–Realgy, Liberty Power and Switch Energy–after receiving hundreds of complaints from consumers about marketing techniques, unresponsive call centers and an unusual Realgy fee that has caused bills to skyrocket overnight. CUB’s legal team is intervening in the cases. These companies are…...
