It’s time for another annual reflection from CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign. With millions of customers dealing with electricity price spikes, 2025 was a busy year advocating for consumers at PJM Interconnection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As part of that mission, the campaign held four…...
CUB Q&A: The Low-Income Discount (LID) Program for ComEd customers
Following the introduction of low-income discount programs for Illinois’ major gas utilities and private water companies, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) will be rolling out its own discount program in January of 2026. This program is required under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and will provide monthly electric-bill discounts for…...
CUB Challenges Ameren’s $59.6 Million Electric Rate-Hike Request
A year after receiving a significant electric rate hike, Ameren Illinois is back before state regulators hoping to increase its delivery rates by an extra $59.6 million, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Monday. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last year approved a $308.6 million Ameren electric rate increase, phased in…...
CUB Q&A: AT&T letters announce end of landline service in 2027
AT&T has been mailing letters to customers announcing that it is ending “AT&T Residential Local Service,” its traditional copper landline service, a.k.a. plain old telephone service. Here’s our Q&A on what’s happening: What do the letters mean? For over a decade, the telecom giant has been making moves to phase…...
CUB Reacts To ICC Making Significant Cut To Nicor Gas Rate Hike
CUB issued the following statement responding to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) ruling on Nicor Gas’ rate-hike request: Any heating bill increase is too much for Nicor’s 2.3 million customers, who have been hit with four previous rate hikes in the last eight years – a period when profits for…...
CUB Reacts To ICC Making Significant Cut To Ameren Gas Rate Hike
CUB issued the following statement Wednesday in response to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC)’s ruling on Ameren Illinois’ gas rate-hike request: Any heating bill increase is too much for Ameren’s more than 800,000 gas customers, who have already been hit by four rate hikes in the last seven years –…...
Executive Director’s 2025 Report: A Heartfelt Thanks
By Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board Here is my report for 2025–CUB’s 41st year of consumer advocacy. I’m proud of how the CUB team served Illinois consumers in a tough year marked by a painful summer electricity price spike for ComEd and Ameren customers and rate-hike battles against…...
CUB Q&A: PJM’s Critical Issue Fast Path (CIFP) Policy Proposal on Data Centers
What’s happening? On Wednesday, November 19, PJM members will vote on how to integrate data centers into the grid. As we’ve detailed elsewhere, data centers require massive amounts of electricity and drive up consumer costs. Some, but not all, proposals would ensure that data centers only connect to the electric…...
Good news! The Illinois EPA Electric Vehicle Rebate Program is Now Open
Are you in the market for a new electric vehicle? You’re in luck– the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ‘s Electric Vehicle Rebate program is open for rebate applications between now and January 31st. The income-qualified program’s rebate amounts include: A $4,000 rebate to a low-income applicant, as defined in the…...
ComEd ($268.5 million), Ameren ($59.6 million) push for extra delivery rate hikes
In an already-expensive year of spiking electricity supply prices, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois are pushing to increase another part of our power bills, delivery charges, by a total of $328 million. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last year approved four-year rate plans for both ComEd and Ameren, but a…...
