CUB shares new Summer Power Prices for Illinois Electric Utilities

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Jun 02, 2023, 14:01 ET

CHICAGO, June 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Citizens Utility Board on Friday alerted Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) customers of new electric supply prices as of June 1, and warned consumers to beware of bad deals peddled by alternative suppliers this summer.

Prices skyrocketed last year, caused by a number of factors, including the volatility of the natural gas market, made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gas, which is often used to generate electricity, pushed power prices to extreme levels across the nation. The new utility supply rates show that market prices are easing, for now.

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

ComEd Supply Rate: June – September 2023

6.809 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Note: This rate includes the supply price and a transmission charge. Last year's summer power price for ComEd was more than 11 cents per kWh.

Ameren Supply Rate: June – September 2023

7.877 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
Note: This rate includes the supply price, a transmission charge and a supply cost adjustment. Last year's summer power price for Ameren was more than 10.6 cents per kWh.

These are summer supply rates. Non-summer supply rates, which take effect Oct. 1, will be announced later.

Ameren and ComEd do not profit off the price of electricity—they pass those costs onto customers with no markup. They do profit off the delivery portion of the bill, and currently CUB is challenging the utilities' attempts to each raise delivery rates by more than $1 billion (ComEd, $1.5 billion; Ameren, $1.3 billion) before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).

Supply-related charges take up a half to two-thirds of electric bills, while delivery charges take up a third to a half of bills.

While the utilities will always charge customers in their service territories for delivering electricity to their homes, Ameren and ComEd customers can choose to pay an alternative company for their supply.

Warning: It is important that consumers know the price for electricity charged by ComEd and Ameren to protect themselves from bad deals being peddled by alternative electricity suppliers door-to-door or over the phone. Illinois consumers have lost more than $1 billion to alternative suppliers since 2015. It is likely your best bet is to stick with your utility for power supply.

For consumers on municipal aggregation offers—community power deals that are negotiated by local governments—you could be on a reasonable deal. Savings are not guaranteed, but municipal aggregation has been a much safer bet than supplier offers marketed over the phone or door-to-door. See if your community has a municipal aggregation deal and at what price at the state of Illinois' electric competition website, Plug In Illinois.

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.

Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is 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