In reporting our latest good news—the Illinois Appellate Court upheld a $36.7 million refund for ComEd customers—Crain’s Chicago Business wrote: “The wheels of utility-rate justice turn slowly.” True, being a good consumer advocate means never giving up. The ruling made public this week comes after a six-year legal fight waged by…...
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…...
CUB hits the highway to help consumers save
CUB’s outreach department is no stranger to Illinois highways, logging thousands of miles every year up and down I-55, I-57, I-80 and everywhere in between to spread the word about saving money on utility bills. Headed by Outreach Director Sarah Moskowitz, the department is made up of Environmental Outreach Coordinator…...
The quest for a smarter power grid begins today
Today, Illinois’ biggest electric utility will begin installing digital “smart meters” in Chicago’s western suburbs, launching an ambitious plan to give 4 million customers new meters by 2021. These new meters, built in a plant on the city’s South side, are a symbol of high-tech upgrades, collectively called the “smart grid,”…...
Kick “cramming” off our wireless bills!
Fraudulent third-party charges could cost wireless customers up to $887 million a year. That’s according to a nationwide coalition of consumer advocates, including CUB, who are pushing federal regulators to adopt tough rules cracking down on the “cramming” scam. Cramming is when a third-party company places a charge on your…...
