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CUB Q and A: Another capacity auction, more bad news–so what happened?

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 23:43:19 +0000

By Clara Summers Manager, CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign You may have seen a flurry of news about electric bill increases due to something called a “capacity auction.” Or worse, you opened your June ComEd bill and saw a sharp uptick. You can learn more about PJM’s capacity market and this year’s price spike in our previous blog, and by visiting our Help Center. Sadly, there’s more bad news. Prices are going up yet again–next June. Let’s break it down. So what’s happening to ComEd bills? The price spike we are experiencing now was set in stone last July. That’s when PJM held its auction for 2025/2026 to determine what we pay for reserve electricity, or capacity. It was bad enough when prices reached record highs for that auction, but PJM just set another record for its 2026/2027 auction, which will go into effect on June 1, 2026. The auction price jumped 22 percent, increasing from $269.92 per Megawatt-day to $329.17 per MW-day. That doesn’t mean your bill will go up 22 percent–capacity is only one component of ComEd’s supply price for electricity–but it does mean your bill will increase.* ComEd initially said bills will go up by about 2 percent next year–on top of the spike consumers are feeling now–but we won’t know final estimates until sometime next May. Did anything change since the last auction? After last year’s devastating auction results, advocates sprung into action. Environmental organizations filed a complaint at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) about how PJM made ratepayers pay extra for otherwise retiring coal plants, but then ignored them in the capacity auction, falsely reducing supply. Consumer advocates supported that complaint and added our own, where we argued, among other things, that PJM wasn’t counting the contribution of many renewables either. PJM changed its rules for the better in response to these complaints. Gov. Shapiro of Pennsylvania also brought a complaint to FERC, saying that the normal price cap of $500 per MW-day should be lowered until the interconnection queue starts working again. (Remember, a major factor for these high prices is PJM’s interconnection queue delay). PJM and Gov. Shapiro agreed on a regional price cap of $329.17 per MW-day for the next two auctions. While there were other parts of the agreement that raised consumer advocate concerns, we supported the price cap. The most recent auction, setting prices that will take effect next June, hit the price cap negotiated by Gov. Shapiro. PJM did an analysis of what the clearing price would have been without the new price cap, and holding all else equal, the price cap saved consumers an estimated $2.9 billion. As a consumer advocate, we are relieved that there was a price cap that protected ratepayers from even worse outcomes, but are still frustrated that we got here in the first place. Why is the capacity price going up even more? Significant increases in demand, combined with a restriction in supply (the frozen interconnection queue), cause prices to go high. The biggest contributor to the price spike in this auction was large loads, such as data centers. They […]

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CUB Q&A: Feds want to hit us with higher electric bills to prop up expensive, out-of-state power plants

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:38:21 +0000

This summer, electricity prices are skyrocketing. Starting June 1, consumers started to feel the heat of poor decision-making at our regional grid operators, PJM and MISO. Unfortunately, there is more bad news: the federal Department of Energy is ordering two expensive, out-of-state power plants on the verge of retirement to stay open past their closing dates, at our expense. Why is this happening? In January, the White House declared a national energy emergency, defining “energy” as fossil fuels, biofuel, geothermal, nuclear, and hydropower — in short, everything except wind, solar, and batteries. In April, it asked the federal Department of Energy (DOE) to exercise its emergency authority to identify and prevent certain types of generation plants from retiring or converting to a new fuel source. In late May, DOE responded with two emergency orders to keep otherwise retiring plants open: J.H. Campbell Power Plant in Michigan and Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania. Emergency orders are supposed to be used for real emergencies, such as a natural disaster or war. Importantly, while these emergency orders have the authority to keep the plant open, they don’t determine who pays for them. Because both plants are in the same Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that serve Illinois, Illinois customers are on the hook to keep them open. Ameren customers: stuck with the J.H. Campbell Power Plant bill Campbell, owned by Consumers Energy, is a coal-fired plant with three units that came online 45 to 63 years ago (between 1962 and 1980). The plants are dirty and outdated. Back in 2022, the owners of Campbell made a settlement to stop maintenance and upgrades, with the intention of retiring it this year. In the meantime, they started buying other resources, so there wouldn’t be any power supply loss from retiring Campbell. In short, there is a clear and reliable plan to safely retire Campbell. But the DOE disagrees, and so someone has to pay to keep the plant open for (at least) an extra 90 days, to the tune of an estimated $100 million. Right now, Consumers Energy wants to spread the cost across the north and central zones of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). Ameren customers in Illinois are part of these MISO zones and will have to pony up to keep this dirty, decrepit plant open. ComEd customers: stuck with the Eddystone Generation Station bill Eddystone, owned by Constellation, runs on oil or gas, and its two units were built 50 years ago (1974 and 1976). Just like with Campbell, Eddystone is dirty and outdated. It rarely runs–just a few times a year. When Constellation announced its intention to retire Eddystone back in 2023, PJM found that retiring it would cause no issues with grid reliability. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which makes sure that all regions of the country have enough electric resources, recently said that PJM was in good shape. In short, experts agreed that Eddystone can proceed to a smooth retirement. But the DOE disagrees, and so someone has to pay to keep the plant open for (at least) an extra 90 days, to the tune of an estimated […]

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CUB Q&A: Why did Ameren’s electricity price spike this past summer?

Jim Chilsen — Fri, 23 May 2025 20:28:30 +0000

A spike in an electricity “capacity auction” meant that the supply price for Ameren Illinois increased significantly on June 1. Ameren estimated that this increased the average monthly bills of a typical residential customer by 18 percent to 22 percent, or roughly $38 to $46 per month, over the summer. Thankfully, Ameren’s price did go down significantly, as of Oct. 1. Read CUB’s Q&A and visit CUBHelpCenter.com for more information. What happened? In April, the power grid operator known as the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) announced the results of its latest capacity auction (technically called the “Planning Resource Auction”), covering the 12-month period from June 2025 through May 2026. The auction is how the grid operator secures reserve power in its region, which includes all or parts of 15 states from the upper Midwest through Ameren Illinois’ territory in central and southern Illinois and down to Louisiana. (MISO territory also includes the Canadian province of Manitoba.) In the latest auction, the summer capacity price skyrocketed from $30 per Megawatt-day in 2024 to $666.50 per MW-day this year–a 22-fold increase. MISO’s capacity prices are seasonal, and while they are still elevated compared with the year before for the fall, winter and spring seasons, they do drop significantly after the summer. Below are the seasonal prices from the latest auction (Ameren Illinois is located in MISO’s Zone 4): What exactly are capacity costs? Not only do you pay for the power you use now, but you also pay for power you could use in the future. Capacity refers to extra payments consumers give power plant operators for the commitment to have enough reserve electricity available if demand suddenly spikes. (Think of a hot summer afternoon, when everyone blasts the air conditioning.) Where does a capacity price increase appear on my bill? An increase in capacity prices will affect the supply section of your Ameren bill. For most customers, the capacity cost is one component of Ameren’s per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) supply price. On average, capacity takes up roughly 20 percent of the supply price. (While most customers don’t see capacity costs as a separate line item, participants in Ameren’s Power Smart Pricing program–which charges you a supply price that can change hourly–do see a capacity line item on their bills.) How much will an increase in capacity costs increase Ameren bills? Ameren’s electricity supply rate, also known as the “price to compare,” increased by about 50 percent, to 12.18 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), from June through September 2025. Ameren estimated that this higher rate, which includes the supply price, a transmission charge and a “supply cost adjustment,” increased summer power bills by an average of 18 percent to 22 percent, or $37.62 to $45.98 per month for the typical customer (10,000 kWh a year). In October, capacity prices came down from their summer high, and Ameren’s new supply price, for October 2025 through May 2026, was significantly lower: 8.402¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for up to 800 kWh of usage. 7.483¢ per kWh for all electricity usage beyond 800 kWh. The summer price spike had a significant impact on Ameren customers. Unlike with PJM’s capacity […]

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CUB joins legislative champions in Springfield to urge passage of Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:07:48 +0000

With consumers and the power grid facing unprecedented threats–including price spikes, surging demand sparked by data centers, and poor regional policy–legislative champions joined with consumer advocates on Tuesday to urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act (SB2473/HB3779). Please: Act now to protect our power bills and our power grid: Urge Springfield to support the CRGA Act. Watch the livestream of Tuesday’s Springfield news conference in which CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz and other supporters explain why the CRGA Act is needed. Here’s the situation: Illinois’ power grid is struggling to keep pace with a surge in demand for energy, largely caused by data centers. Yet, at a time when clean, affordable energy is most needed, power grid operators in Illinois–Regional Transmission Organizations PJM Interconnection and and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)–are years behind schedule in connecting clean energy projects to the grid that could power millions of homes. As a result, Illinois electric customers are increasingly threatened with poor grid reliability and unexpected price spikes–including one about to hit ComEd customers on June 1. Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021, historic, nation-leading legislation that aims for 100 percent clean energy by 2050. But with these unprecedented threats, consumer and environmental advocates want to build on the progress of CEJA by passing the CRGA Act. “Too often Illinois electricity customers face price spikes because of poor policy from power grid operators PJM and MISO,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) was a historic step toward 100 percent clean, affordable energy, but our work isn’t done. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act is urgently needed legislation that builds on CEJA and is good for our power grid and good for our power bills.” The CRGA Act offers a comprehensive suite of commonsense solutions to meet the challenges facing our electric grid while prioritizing affordability for consumers. Among many provisions, the CRGA Act would: Strengthen energy efficiency by increasing the access to rebates to weatherize homes and purchase efficient appliances like HVAC systems and water heaters. Requires new large-scale data centers to cover their own grid interconnection costs and energy needs and bring in new clean energy. It also creates a process for regulators to set rules ensuring residential electric customers are not harmed by these energy-guzzling facilities. Strengthen the power grid by promoting improvements to transmission infrastructure, maximize the amount of clean electricity power lines can carry (through grid-enhancing technologies), and reduce bottlenecks in the process to develop and improve transmission lines. Expand clean, affordable energy by launching an Energy Storage Procurement Program, which directs the Illinois Power Agency to create a long-term energy storage procurement plan to meet future energy goals, and give more households, nonprofit groups and public facilities access to battery storage. (Battery storage is important because it can store solar and wind energy for use even during times when clean energy isn’t being produced.) Launch a “virtual power plant” initiative to pool thousands of small solar and storage projects to replace dirty, outdated, and expensive power […]

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CUB Statement on Consumer Victory: FERC Rejects PJM’s Anti-Consumer Transmission Proposal

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 18:52:27 +0000

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected an anti-consumer proposal by PJM Interconnection and a group of transmission owners that would have given transmission owners more control over power grid planning. CUB is grateful to Earthjustice, who acted as our legal counsel, and our partners in this case: Delaware Division of the Public Advocate, Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Sustainable FERC Project. The following is a statement from Clara Summers, manager of CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid campaign: We commend the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for rejecting this anti-consumer proposal by PJM and the Transmission Owners, which would have given large corporations with a profit motive far too much power and secrecy in transmission planning. PJM’s Consolidated Transmission Owners Agreement (CTOA) would have threatened efficient, thoughtful regional transmission planning and further shielded the process from scrutiny. It would have served to enrich transmission owners much more than the public interest. We’re glad FERC saw through PJM and the Transmission Owners’ power grab. (PDF version of this statement.) Background: On Friday, Dec. 6, FERC rejected a plan proposed by power grid operator PJM Interconnection to give transmission owners more control over PJM’s transmission planning process. Back in June, PJM asked FERC to approve the deal, which it had secretly negotiated with transmission owners. It was called the Consolidated Transmission Owners Agreement, or CTOA. PJM is the nation’s largest power grid operator–managing the flow of electricity over northern Illinois and all or parts of a dozen other states. Transmission owners are wealthy and powerful energy companies–like Exelon, the parent of utility ComEd–that own the big, high voltage lines that crisscross the nation. CUB opposed the CTOA because… It would have allowed transmission owners to override more efficient regional projects, and instead build many smaller “supplemental” projects that are more lucrative for transmission companies and expensive to consumers. It included extra giveaways to the transmission owners to shield them and PJM from scrutiny and make it extra hard to challenge them. It would have undermined FERC Order 1920, an order that calls for thoughtful transmission planning. On July 22, CUB filed a protest at FERC against the CTOA. The consumer group received legal representation from Earthjustice, and were joined by the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate, Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and the Sustainable FERC Project.

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Consumers for a Better Grid: 2024 Year In Review

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:39:53 +0000

Well, we’ve made it to the end of 2024. As we take a breath to gather ourselves for the coming year, it’s good to reflect on all we’ve accomplished in the past year and chart a course for all that remains to be done. CUB, through its Consumers for a Better Grid campaign, has been working diligently on behalf of Illinois consumers at the power-grid operator PJM Interconnection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A few highlights from the past year … January: We started the year by organizing consumer advocates across the two Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that manage the power grids in Illinois, MISO and PJM, to call for better interregional transmission planning. We have a special interest in ensuring that planning between the two regions is done efficiently, because proactively planning interregional transmission can lower costs and improve reliability in Illinois (especially in the face of extreme weather). Learn more about transmission: Who pays for transmission lines? Take a look at your power bill February: State legislators in Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia announced a shared effort to bring better transparency to PJM. CUB’s Clara Summers testified in front of the Maryland state legislature in support of the bill. March: The Chicago Tribune shined a light on PJM’s broken interconnection queue process. “(PJM) has unnecessarily set our transition to cleaner energy back by years,” said Clara Summers, the Consumers for a Better Grid campaign manager at CUB. April: CUB’s Clara Summers was invited to speak on a panel at the National Environmental Justice Conference and Training Program. The decisions made at RTOs impact the affordability, reliability, and cleanliness of our electricity. Environmental justice communities feel these issues most acutely, as they often deal with energy burden, frequent power outages and power plant pollution. But getting access to RTOs is very difficult for the public. Consumers for a Better Grid is working to change that. May: CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz and Campaign Manager Clara Summers attended PJM’s Annual Meeting in Baltimore. At the meeting, Clara presented to the PJM Board about needed improvements to the decision-making process. We also joined other consumer advocates in filing formal comments to FERC, agreeing with proposed rules barring generators from forcing consumers to pay for reliability standards the generators are required to meet. June: CUB joined environmental organizations in filing a protest with FERC, asking that the federal agency require PJM to comply with Order 2023 by streamlining the interconnection process and modernizing the grid. “PJM is dragging its feet on the clean energy transition and doing everything it can, instead, to create exceptions for itself,” we told the Chicago Tribune. July: This was a banner month for us. In the space of a few weeks, we joined a protest filed with FERC advocating for fair treatment of energy efficiency in the market. We also filed a protest opposing anti-consumer changes to PJM’s Consolidated Transmission Owners Agreement, with legal support from Earthjustice. Finally, a proposal that we co-sponsored with Maryland advocates passed a PJM stakeholder vote with resounding support. (The vote begins a discussion on how to design and […]

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Breaking: PJM committee vote strong step toward clean, affordable energy future

Jim Chilsen — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 18:08:49 +0000

In a strong step forward for affordable, reliable and clean energy, a committee at the nation’s largest power grid operator on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to begin a discussion on how to design and evaluate cost-effective alternatives to running expensive, polluting power plants past their desired close date. PJM manages the power grid for northern Illinois and all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia. On Wednesday, PJM’s Markets & Reliability Committee voted to launch a process for PJM members (energy industry companies and consumer advocates) to consider how to design and evaluate cost-effective alternatives to expensive reliability must run (RMR) agreements. RMR agreements are created and managed by PJM whenever they have concerns that a plant closure would hurt grid reliability. With a growing number of uneconomic coal and gas plants reaching retirement, RMRs keep polluting, expensive generators online well past their planned deactivation dates. For example, the proposed RMR for the Brandon Shores coal plant in Maryland was criticized by advocates because it could cost Marylanders around $175 million each year. The discussion on RMR alternatives will take place in the Deactivation Enhancements Senior Task Force, which was already considering how to revise RMR compensation and deactivation notification timelines. “This is a vital, necessary discussion that could help us better navigate the energy transition,” said Clara Summers, manager of Consumers for a Better Grid, a CUB project to advocate for consumer interests at PJM. “RMRs are bad for the planet and our bottom lines, and it’s time we start considering alternatives, such as deploying grid-enhancing technologies and energy storage, that can keep the lights on and combat climate change while saving electric customers money. Today’s vote was an excellent step in the right direction–now we can get down to business to design an alternative solution.” Given the high cost of RMRs, CUB teamed with the Maryland Office of the People’s Counsel to propose an expanded stakeholder process to consider alternatives to RMRs to better protect customers from higher energy costs and harmful pollution while also meeting the needs caused by increased energy demand. This is not a new concept–other grid operators across the country, including in New York and Texas, already have processes to evaluate alternatives to RMRs. Specifically, the new stakeholder process would discuss procedures to evaluate combinations of generation and transmission technologies as cost-effective alternatives to RMRs. Some of the technologies under consideration include: grid-enhancing technologies reconductoring energy storage “No one likes RMRs–they are expensive, polluting, and they distort the markets,” Summers said. “We are glad that stakeholders have come together and said we want an alternative. This is an exciting example of consumer advocates helping to set the agenda.” Read Clara Summers’ statement on this development. For more information on advocating for consumer interests at PJM, visit Consumers for a Better Grid’s website.

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What Illinois can learn from the Texas power disaster

Jim Chilsen — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 20:23:37 +0000

Texas’ power collapse in the wake of record-setting cold left millions of people suffering without electricity. And millions more are left with big questions about how such a tragedy could happen. A disaster like this should spark thoughtful discussion in Illinois and across the country of what we can do to strengthen our grid and prevent such tragedies in the future. Here’s a breakdown: What happened? Beginning Sunday, Feb. 14, a winter storm brought record-low temperatures to Texas that crippled sources of power generation (mostly natural gas and coal). The limited electricity supply coupled with record-high demand forced the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)—the state’s power grid operator—early on the morning of Monday, Feb. 15, to implement rolling outages that left millions of people without power. Why did ERCOT order rolling outages? When a grid manager takes the extreme step of ordering controlled rolling blackouts (also called “load-shedding”), it’s to prevent an even bigger problem. The grid was reportedly minutes, even seconds, away from a total collapse—a blackout that could have lasted months. How many people were affected? We’ve seen estimates ranging from at least 2 million to 3.6 million or more. The initial plan was that the rolling blackouts would only last 15-45 minutes at a time, but then utility officials announced the outages would last hours, even days. By the end of the week, hundreds of thousands of people were still without power, about half of the state was under a boil order, and local TV stations had reported too many sad stories: In the Houston area, three young children and their grandmother died in a fire, likely sparked by a fireplace. In Abilene, a 67-year-old homeless man died of exposure, and a 60-year-old man froze to death in his own home. In Galveston County six deaths were suspected to have been caused by exposure or carbon monoxide poisoning. While Texas was hit the hardest, millions of people across the country suffered through power outages amid harsh winter temperatures and the ongoing pandemic. The White House declared emergencies in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, and on Saturday, Feb. 20, Texas received a “major disaster” declaration. How can I help? See a list of organizations taking donations here. Is the Texas problem about wind turbines freezing? No. Some officials initially blamed the problem on Texas wind turbines freezing in the record-low temps. But ERCOT data show that most of the outages were caused by natural gas supply constraints because of frozen wells and pipelines. “Though no power resource performed perfectly, power sector experts dismissed the idea that renewables alone were to blame for the outages,” Utility Dive wrote. Note: The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, of which CUB is a member, produced a short video debunking this“frozen wind turbines are to blame” myth. If you want to do a deeper dive into the Texas disaster, check out these articles by The New York Times, The Texas Tribune and this detailed itemization of key issues surrounding the Texas power collapse from an interested observer in Australia. Also, we recommend you visit the Twitter feed of Jesse Jenkins, an energy systems engineer at Princeton University, for clear-headed analysis. What does natural gas have […]

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Weatherization assistance, solar tax credits included in COVID stimulus package

Hannah — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 21:36:05 +0000

Many consumers across the U.S. should soon see $600 payments in their bank accounts, thanks to a $900 billion stimulus package passed by Congress. Although headlines focused on financial assistance, the federal legislation also encourages energy efficiency and extends an important benefit for people who want to go solar. The relief bill became law on Dec. 27. Here’s a summary of its energy-related provisions: Weatherization The package includes the Energy Act of 2020 and the Energy for the Environment Act, which contain new provisions for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program. The federal program reduces energy costs for low-income households by increasing their efficiency. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the bill helps the program address more than weatherization, and now includes assistance for health and safety issues in homes as well as solar installations. The DOE program creates 8,500 jobs and provides weatherization services to about 35,000 homes each year. These households save, on average, $283 each year as a result of the program. To apply for weatherization assistance, visit this website. Solar tax credit The package also extends many special energy tax credits that were set to expire at the end of 2020. Notably for Illinois consumers, the Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was extended. This ITC allows consumers to deduct a percentage of their solar project costs from their federal taxes. For solar installations that begin construction by the end of 2022, consumers can deduct 26 percent. The benefit drops to 22 percent for installations that begin by the end of 2023, and in 2024, the credit disappears entirely for residential customers. This incentive does not depend on how much energy your solar system produces, but you must pay federal taxes to benefit. For more information on the solar ITC, visit this Department of Energy fact sheet. The package also includes a 5-year 30 percent ITC for new offshore wind facilities, including inland waters like the Great Lakes. Power grid upgrades Electric grid modernization was another dominant feature of the package’s utility provisions. Congress authorized programs to model, test and develop technologies for a more secure, reliable grid. Along with a slew of other provisions to move along modernization, the Department of Energy was permitted to work on integrating renewable energy and electric vehicles onto the grid. Water Bill Assistance The legislation also provides $638 million in funding to the Department of Health and Human Services to create a new Low-Income Household Drinking Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program. The new program and funding would be used to help low-income households afford their water bills. The relief package also includes: The Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020, which directs the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to create rules requiring operators of natural gas gathering, transmission, and distribution pipelines to conduct methane leak detection and repair programs. A national goal to allow at least 25 gigawatts of renewable electricity on federal lands. Note: The legislation also created the Emergency Rental Assistance program, providing $25 billion in funding for renters that can go to rent and utilities. We […]

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Act now to avoid skyrocketing electric prices

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 21:54:48 +0000

We’ve been updating you on two developments that could have disastrous consequences for your power bills. Now’s the time to act to protect YOUR interests. ComEd customers: Tell Congress to fix a terrible court ruling that could increase your rates by 20% A recent federal court ruling stripped power grid operator PJM (the grid operator for Northern Illinois) of the authority to run an energy efficiency program called “Demand Response.” That’s where huge industrial customers are paid to shift electricity usage away from “peak” demand times. The program cuts power prices for everyone, and one analysis estimated that eliminating Demand Response could jack up ComEd’s prices by 20 percent. Tell Congress to enact legislation that would renew a power grid operator’s authority to run such an important program. Ameren customers: Tell the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject any proposal for Ameren to join a more expensive power grid Illinois coal plant owner Dynegy has floated the idea of Ameren Illinois joining a different power grid—a move that could increase power prices by $300 million, according to a recent analysis. Ask state regulators to reject any plan like this that would slam Ameren pocketbooks. So far, more than 2,800 ComEd and Ameren customers have taken action. Join them on CUB’s Action Network.

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