CUB ALERTS ILLINOIS CONSUMERS TO NEW SUMMER POWER PRICES

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Jun 04, 2024, 08:00 ET

CHICAGO, June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Tuesday alerted ComEd and Ameren Illinois customers that the utilities are charging new electric supply prices in June, and that consumers should beware of bad deals peddled by other companies.

As of June 1, the utilities changed their "price to compare," the price customers should compare to alternative electricity supplier offers, according to PlugInIllinois.gov, the state of Illinois' electric competition website.

ComEd Supply Rate: June – September 2024
6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) [Note: This rate includes the supply price and a transmission charge. ComEd charged 6.848 cents per kWh last month, and 6.809 cents per kWh last summer.]

Ameren Supply Rate: June – September 2024
8.136 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) [Note: This rate includes the supply price, a transmission charge and a supply cost adjustment. Ameren charged 8.683 cents per kWh last month (0-800 kWh of usage), and 7.877 cents per kWh last summer.]

These are summer prices. Non-summer prices, which take effect Oct. 1, will be announced later.
The prices above are supply prices. Supply-related charges, what customers pay for the actual power, take up a half to two-thirds of power bills. Delivery charges, what customers pay to have the power delivered to their homes, take up a third to a half of bills.
Ameren and ComEd don't profit off the price of electricity—under law they are required to pass those costs onto customers with no markup. (They do profit off the delivery portion of the bill, and CUB is currently challenging higher rates the companies are proposing in their power grid plans before state regulators.)
Ameren and ComEd serve customers living in set geographic territories: ComEd roughly covers the northern third of Illinois; and Ameren the southern two-thirds of the state. Their prices differ because the supply rates are set by different energy markets with different rules. People living in one utility territory cannot switch to another utility's supply price.

Important information about electricity choice: While utilities charge customers for delivering electricity to homes in their service territories, Ameren and ComEd customers can choose to pay an alternative company for their supply. However it's likely that your best bet is to stick with the utility for power supply. Illinoisans have lost more than $1.6 billion to alternative electricity suppliers since 2015.

Consumers on municipal aggregation offers—community power deals that are negotiated by local governments—could be on a reasonable deal. Savings are not guaranteed, but aggregation has been a much safer bet than supplier offers marketed over the phone, door-to-door or via mail. See if your community has a municipal aggregation deal and what it is charging at PlugInIllinois.gov.

There are more reliable ways to cut costs than switching to an alternative supplier:

Practice energy efficiency. The utilities offer no- and low-cost programs to help cut costs.
Consider joining ComEd Peak Time Savings or Ameren Peak Time Rewards. These programs give participants a bill credit if they're able to reduce energy usage for a limited number of hours on certain days (typically hot summer afternoons) when electricity demand is highest. Demand response programs like these give participants incentives to reduce energy usage when demand is at its peak and fossil-fuel power plants work their hardest. Since a significant part of our power bills goes to making sure power plants can meet high demand, lowering peak demand can cut our costs.
Consider joining ComEd Hourly Pricing or Ameren Power Smart Pricing. These programs charge a wholesale market price that can change hourly, compared with the traditional supply rate that only changes about twice a year. They encourage customers to put off heavy energy usage (laundry, for example) until prices are lowest: late night and early morning. These programs reduce peak demand and cut the need for fossil-fuel power plant operation. While savings are not guaranteed, 99 percent of participants in ComEd's Hourly Pricing program saved money in 2023.
Explore solar power: Consider installing solar panels using state and federal incentives. Check out the Solar Switch Chicagoland program. Solar Switch educates Chicago-area consumers on the benefits of solar power and can help interested participants install solar panels at a discount and save money on their power bills.
Consumers struggling to afford their bills should see if they qualify for energy assistance through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). To apply or learn more, visit www.helpillinoisfamilies.com or call the Help Illinois Families Assistance Line at 1-833-711-0374.

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is celebrating its 40th anniversary as Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board