In 2023, four gas utilities–Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas and Peoples Gas–pushed for rate hikes before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Environmental and consumer advocates who challenged the rate increases also requested that the ICC order a process to study how Illinois will manage its shift away from…...
CUB’s Capitol Report: Fighting rubber-stamped rate hikes, water privatization, and unfair gas charges in Springfield
With Illinois’ new General Assembly taking up business in Springfield amid a pandemic, CUB’s Bryan McDaniel will be busy fighting for consumers on a number of important bills. Help CUB fight for lower utility bills “Fighting for consumer legislation in Springfield is always a challenge because energy, water, and internet…...
State report shows big losses for electric shoppers: $800 million since 2015
The Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development released its annual report on Illinois electric competition. It showed that electric consumers with alternative suppliers lost $246.1 million just over the last 12 months. That makes nearly $800 million lost in the last four years! Since June 2015, total residential…...
How electric vehicles could cut your power bill, even if you don’t drive
The surging popularity of electric vehicles on American roads could actually lower power bills for all electric consumers, even those who don’t own cars, a new CUB study found. The key is for policymakers to adopt key measures necessary to manage how EVs get charged. The study, Charging Ahead: Deriving…...
The bad water bill is now law. So now what?
Earlier this month Gov. Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 4508 — which means any publicly owned water system in Illinois could now be targeted by profit-driven private water utilities. The bill doubles down on previous legislation that allowed Aqua Illinois and Illinois American Water to impose automatic rate hikes to…...
UPDATE: BAD water bill HB 4508 moves to Senate
House Bill 4508 has passed the Illinois House of Representatives and moves to the state Senate. We need your help to defeat this legislation, which allows big water companies to expand while customers foot the bill. CUB opposes this bill: When the nation’s biggest private water companies get their hands…...
Fight HB 4508 (BAD water bill)
We need your help to defeat House Bill 4508—legislation in Springfield that could raise water rates for a lot of Illinois consumers. Back in 2013, the General Assembly passed legislation that allowed the state’s biggest private water companies (Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois) to automatically raise their existing customers’…...
Stop spending abuses by Peoples Gas: Fight for HB 4898
CUB, AARP Illinois and Illinois PIRG this week held a news conference about the mismanagement and spiraling costs associated with a Peoples Gas plan to replace aging pipes underneath the city. How bad is it? An analysis by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan found that if the program isn’t changed…...
