In the past, we’ve alerted you about White House budget plans that would eliminate strong energy efficiency programs like Energy Star, which since its beginning in 1992 has saved residential and business customers more than $360 billion dollars on their utility bills. That’s why this Earth Month (April), it’s so…...
The day in the life of a CUB outreach staffer…
By Annabelle Roser As solar energy becomes more accessible to everyday consumers, the financial incentives of owning solar panels can be hard to pass up. The benefits of subsidizing or eliminating your energy bills through net-metering can be especially enticing to retirees or those on fixed incomes. Recently, I met…...
Hot tip: ComEd’s Hourly Pricing program might be right for you!
More than a million Illinois consumers are with alternative suppliers, but CUB would like to alert people to yet another choice: Commonwealth Edison’s Hourly Pricing program. The program lets customers take advantage of hourly market-based electricity rates, which tend to be lower during nights and weekends. While not for everyone, thousands of…...
One step closer to stopping Ameren’s attack on energy efficiency
This week our legal team received some good news: An Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) judge has recommended that the full ICC reject Ameren Illinois’ proposal to increase its customer charge by 9 percent. (Read CUB’s statement on the development.) Last August, the company had made the proposal, but CUB, Environmental…...
Stop: The “Raise Our Utility Bills Act”
New legislation was introduced in Washington this month that would kill efficiency standards and potentially hit Americans with billions of dollars in higher utility costs. H.R. 117 is called the “Energy Efficiency Free Market Act of 2017,” but a better name would be the “Raise Our Utility Bills Act.” The…...
General Assembly passes historic energy efficiency standards
On the last day of the General Assembly’s veto session, legislators passed Senate Bill 2814, a measure that will spark lower utility bills by establishing historic energy efficiency standards for Illinois’ biggest electric utilities. On Thursday evening, the Illinois House passed the measure, also called the “Future Energy Jobs Bill,” 63-38,…...
Statement by CUB Executive Director David Kolata on passage of SB 2814
The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is pleased that the Illinois General Assembly has passed Senate Bill 2814, the Future Energy Jobs Bill, and that Gov. Bruce Rauner has now signed the legislation. This is a good day for Illinois electric customers because with this legislation the state’s biggest energy companies…...
Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition Announces Support of Amended Future Energy Jobs Bill
Environmental and consumer advocates, energy efficiency experts, faith leaders and clean energy businesses call for passage of amended energy bill, an important step forward to build jobs across Illinois, save customers money and act on climate. For Immediate Release, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 Representatives of Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), a…...
