Search Results for: "consumer alert"

A program that helps low-income seniors and families stay current with their utility bills was reinstated after budget disputes in Springfield suspended it for a year. However, due to the program’s popularity the funding has run out in Cook County and is going fast in other counties. The Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) allows low-income households to get help…

Gas customers in Illinois have the option of choosing an unregulated alternative gas company instead of the regulated utility for their gas supply. Making the right choice, however, can be hard work! And now that utility heating prices are at their lowest in nearly 15 years, it is more important than ever to do your homework. See CUB’s consumer alert…

Today, we issued a consumer alert urging people to sign CUB’s petition asking the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to require electricity suppliers to videotape their door-to-door electricity pitches. Such a proposal is probably a first in the nation, and the alternative electricity suppliers (of course) are fighting it tooth and nail. This is the latest development in a campaign for…

The Illinois electric market can be confusing (and expensive!) but CUB is here to help. We reviewed more than 100 individual offers from alternative electric suppliers across Illinois and we want to warn you about the highest prices we found. Some of these rates about double that of the regulated utility! In ComEd territory, the highest prices (as of Jan….

Click here to give us one of your own tips for keeping warm and safe. With forecasts calling for dangerous wind chills as low as 40 below zero, CUB today released a Consumer Alert. Here are our emergency tips: Don’t take any risks. The Illinois Department of Public Health recommends setting your thermostat no lower than 66 degrees in times…

Dolton residents have been paying the highest electric rates in Illinois the last few months, thanks to the community’s “municipal aggregation” deal. Aggregation–when local leaders negotiate power prices with alternative suppliers on behalf of a community’s residents–was once a sure bet. Some communities secured a price that was nearly 50 percent better than the utility. But then the market changed,…

Lisle Elsbury, a business owner from Utica, received a call from “Ameren.” He was told that his power-bill payment didn’t go through and that he needed to make a quick payment to avoid service shut off. Elsbury didn’t buy it. He had recently paid his utility bill so he knew it had to be a scam. Lisle told the LaSalle…

…Ameren Illinois actually went down about 3-5 percent on June 1, to under 5 cents per kWh. Ameren is connected to a Midwest power grid that figures capacity charges differently. It also doesn’t have the intense power demand issues that ComEd’s grid, connected to East Coast states, faces. This week, CUB put out a consumer alert about the increase in…

…would close the window on easy savings. Our second report, released this week, shows how much the market has tightened in just 12 months. The era of easy savings is over when it comes to electric competition. CUB’s Consumer Alert/Survey warns of bad deals in the electric market. Check out some of the complaints we’ve received this year: • An…

…for customers. Because of this, we issued a consumer alert last week warning people to read their gas bill carefully and make sure they know which company is supplying their gas. After all, some Nicor Advanced Energy customers reported rates spiking to $1.77 per therm this winter! Other respondents voiced some important questions: 1.) How do I know if I…