ComEd Archives | Citizens Utility Board

CUB statement on ComEd’s $243M reconciliation rate hike

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 23:40:13 +0000

The following is a statement from CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz: We are pleased that state regulators knocked $25 million off of ComEd’s rate hike by weeding out wasteful and inappropriate spending–especially costs connected to fixing the utility’s error-prone billing system. ComEd customers shouldn’t have to pay for the utility’s incompetence. However, ComEd still received a $243 million rate hike, and we remain concerned about customers being able to afford their utility bills at a time of escalating costs for healthcare, groceries and other necessities. Under state regulatory law, ComEd is allowed to petition state regulators for extra money if it goes beyond what it has budgeted for capital projects. CUB supports ending this reconciliation benefit for utilities. If ComEd blows through its budget in a given year, customers shouldn’t have to pay the excess. Background: On Thursday, Dec. 18, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) granted ComEd a rate hike of about $243 million as part of the utility’s 8-month “reconciliation” case (Docket 25-0383). That’s about $25 million lower than the $268.5 million ComEd sought. ComEd has already won a $606 million, multi-year rate hike last year, but a provision in state regulatory law allows ComEd to petition the ICC to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if they go over-budget on capital expenditures. Roughly $200 million of ComEd’s proposed $268.5 million reconciliation increase was to make up for higher rates that were approved earlier, but had not yet been put in place. The rest of the proposed increase was to recover excess spending for ComEd going over-budget on capital projects. (CUB opposes utilities having this reconciliation benefit.) Among $25.4 in reductions that consumer advocates supported and the ICC approved: Most overrun costs related to fixing billing problems that have plagued ComEd customers since February of 2024. (Customers have complained about problems–billing delays, overcharges and other errors–since the utility launched its new billing system.) Millions of dollars to recover extra costs for infrastructure upgrades the ICC deemed unnecessary for a $73 million data center. For future reconciliation cases, the ICC also ordered ComEd to include cost-benefit analyses of grid plan projects to make it easier to evaluate the impact of ComEd’s plans for improving the grid. A history of ComEd’s recent rate hikes: 2023: The ICC rejected ComEd’s first attempt at a multi-year rate plan, in part because the utility didn’t do enough to show how the plan would be affordable or beneficial to customers. The utility received a $500 million rate hike, which was about $1 billion lower than it wanted. 2024: ComEd proposed a new plan last year, and the ICC approved a multi-year $606 million rate plan, spread out through 2027. 2025: ICC approved an additional $243 million rate hike, as part of an 8-month reconciliation rate case. The rate hike will take effect before the end of the year. Also, in January 2026, ComEd will launch a discount program for lower-income customers. The program will provide monthly discounts to qualifying customers designed to reduce energy bills to 3 to 6 percent of household income. Read CUB’s Q&A on the ComEd program.

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CUB: ComEd taking advantage of ongoing billing problems to push for million in higher delivery rates

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 15:39:52 +0000

Nearly two years after Commonwealth Edison botched its launch of a new billing system, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said it hopes to block Illinois’ biggest electric utility from making customers, and not shareholders, cover nearly $50 million in spending to fix the ongoing problems. (Read the full version of CUB’s news release from Wednesday, Dec. 10.) The utility watchdog made its argument as it challenges ComEd’s push to increase delivery rates by a total of $268.5 million by the end of the year. The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last year approved a four-year rate plan for ComEd, but a provision in state regulatory law allows ComEd to petition (Docket 25-0383) the ICC for higher rates in yearly “reconciliation” cases. A portion of the increase is to make up for higher rates that were approved earlier but had not yet been put in place–however, tens of millions more are to recover excess spending for ComEd going over budget on capital expenditures. CUB filed testimony arguing that tucked away in ComEd’s reconciliation rate-hike plan is an attempt by the utility to improperly win millions of dollars a year in higher rates in connection to problems–billing delays, overcharges and other errors–ComEd customers have experienced since the utility launched its new system in February of 2024. According to the testimony, the improper charges include: $9.3 million a year in higher rates to recover $49 million in spending to fix the billing system, about which CUB is still hearing consumer complaints. “It’s ridiculous for ComEd to try to raise our rates in connection with billing problems the utility giant created itself,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. ”Customers shouldn’t pay higher rates for ComEd’s incompetence.” CUB argued the billing problems also came into play in two instances where ComEd is seeking performance bonus payment, under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), that the utility has not earned, including: A $5.8 million incentive payment for reducing disconnections in certain lower-income ZIP codes. Under an order approving these performance incentive metrics, the ICC adopted a requirement proposed by CUB that the utility cannot collect this bonus for simply delaying disconnections. CUB argued the disconnection reductions were not due to improved affordability or customer assistance but to the fact that ComEd’s error-prone billing system prevented it from disconnecting customers for nonpayment for most of 2024. A $3.5 million incentive payment ComEd argues it deserves for hitting a performance-metric target for customer service. CUB argued ComEd cannot claim this bonus because, amid the billing-system problems, the utility lost the data necessary to prove its claimed improvement. “Shame on ComEd,” Moskowitz said. “The utility shouldn’t benefit from its own failures.” ComEd has had a number of run-ins with the ICC since its corruption scandal erupted in 2020. In 2022, state regulators ordered ComEd to pay a $38 million fine in connection with the scandal. (ComEd was fined $200 million by federal authorities in 2020, after admitting to a bribery scheme to pass legislation that implemented a “formula rate” system and hundreds of millions of dollars in rate hikes over a decade.) In December of 2023, under a new, […]

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ComEd ($268.5 million), Ameren ($59.6 million) push for extra delivery rate hikes

Elizabeth — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:50:51 +0000

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 provision in state law–which CUB opposes–allows the utilities to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if they go over-budget on capital expenditures. Consumer advocates can challenge the utilities’ proposals in these reconciliation cases before the ICC. “We will always challenge wasteful spending by the utilities,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. ”And, while consumer protections have improved, we support ending this reconciliation benefit for utilities. If ComEd and Ameren blow through their budgets in a given year, customers shouldn’t have to pay for it.” Here’s the latest on those reconciliation cases. ComEd (Docket 25-0383) Background: ComEd received a $500 million rate hike in 2023–much smaller than what the company wanted–and the ICC ordered them to come up with a new four-year plan to make improvements to the grid. Eventually, ComEd won an additional $606 million rate hike, spread out through 2027. In its latest reconciliation case, the utility claims it went over budget by $268.5 million in 2024, and is entitled to recover that money from their customers. CUB’s take: Consumer advocates have uncovered at least $125 million in wasteful spending in ComEd’s proposal. Below are examples of unreasonable ComEd spending that, CUB argues, customers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for: $9.3 million in spending to fix ComEd’s billing system, which still isn’t working correctly. ComEd broke it, CUB says, customers shouldn’t have to pay to fix it. $7.6 million to build out the grid in preparation for a data center project that didn’t go online until the following year–and had less than half the energy demand than what ComEd had built out its system for. (This example speaks to why Illinois needs to have more protections in place for when utilities build and spend based on claims by data center developers that later turn out to be inaccurate.) A $5.8 million incentive payment ComEd says it deserves for hitting an affordability-metric target, set by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), that aims to reduce disconnections in certain Zip Codes. CUB argues ComEd doesn’t deserve the money since the utility’s error-prone billing system prevented it from disconnecting customers for nonpayment for much of 2024. ComEd shouldn’t get to benefit from its failures. A $3.5 million incentive payment ComEd argues it deserves for hitting a CEJA performance-metric target for customer service. CUB argues there’s no justification for ComEd to get the money since, amid the billing-system problems, the utility lost the data necessary to prove its claimed improvement. $2.5 million in underexplained spending over their budget on operations and maintenance costs. $1.5 million to help resolve legal claims for injuries and property damage about which ComEd refused to provide specific information. Ameren (Docket 25-0382) Background: The ICC rejected Ameren’s four-year rate plan in 2023, awarding a fraction ($56 million) of what the utility wanted and ordering them to […]

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New ComEd Electricity Price Still Elevated, But CUB Warns Consumers to Beware of Bad Alternative Supplier Deals

Elizabeth — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:21:47 +0000

After an expensive summer, Commonwealth Edison’s new supply price has dropped slightly but is still about 47 percent higher than last year, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Wednesday. Even though ComEd’s price is elevated, the watchdog urged consumers to review the “Supply” section of their bills to confirm they are not overpaying with an expensive alternative supplier offer, including offers negotiated by local governments. ComEd’s new non-summer power price (from October 2025 through May 2026): 9.689¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (Appears as 0.09689 on bills.) The price above includes the supply price plus a transmission charge. While ComEd’s price is down slightly from what it was this past summer (about 10.03¢ per kWh), it’s still up about 47 percent from what it was last October. Overall, ComEd has estimated the price increase will cost customers an average of 10-15 percent, or $10.60, more per month—but the impact can be much higher for individual customers, depending on factors such as weather. In northern Illinois, consumers can choose to stay with ComEd for supply or go with an alternative supplier. Among the choices in the market, many communities have “municipal aggregation” offers that local leaders have negotiated with an alternative supplier. Even with the elevated ComEd price, CUB warned customers of bad alternative supplier deals and stressed that it is likely ComEd is the best bet for supply. A CUB review of state electricity choice reports revealed Illinois consumers have lost more than $2 billion to alternative suppliers over the last decade. “ComEd’s price is painfully high, but customers should beware of bad deals peddled by alternative suppliers,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “Even in this market it is likely that ComEd is your best bet for supply.” The ComEd price spike is connected to an increase in the price for reserve power, also called “capacity.” CUB argues that capacity costs have skyrocketed largely because of increased energy demand from data centers and policy problems with the power grid operator for northern Illinois, PJM Interconnection, which runs an auction to determine the price of capacity. Among other things, the grid operator takes far too long to connect new power sources—wind, solar and battery projects—to the grid so they can help lower prices, CUB argues. Moskowitz said there is an urgent need for continued reforms at PJM, but also for Illinois to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act in the General Assembly’s Fall Veto Session. The act is comprehensive energy legislation that would, among other things, expand energy efficiency programs and bring more battery storage to the grid–improvements essential to lowering power prices. “Illinois must pass the CRGA Act to avoid painful price spikes well into the future,” Moskowitz said. CUB provided additional tips: How do I know if I’m with an alternative supplier? If you’re with an alternative supplier, you will still get a bill from ComEd, with the alternative supplier charges included. To see if you’re with another supplier and what per kWh rate you’re paying, look in the “Supply” sections of your ComEd bill. If a company other than ComEd is listed, you are with an alternative supplier. If […]

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CUB supporters react to ComEd bill increases: “I’m tired of being nickled and dimed to death”

Elizabeth — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 21:08:00 +0000

When we first warned consumers that a 45-50 percent summer price spike was coming, Commonwealth Edison estimated the increase would be about 10-15 percent on bills, or about $10.60 a month on average over the next year. But a series of heat waves combined with the spike appears to have blown that estimate up this summer. The Chicago Tribune reported on this bill shock, with ComEd saying the average increase from May to June was more like $67 and some customers complained of triple-digit increases. We asked ComEd customers for their first-hand accounts of how high their electric bills had jumped this June and, as usual, got many detailed responses from CUB supporters. Consumers who submitted a story saw bills increase from 17 percent on up–including one customer who saw his bill go up from about $40 a month to more than $4,000. (Note: Many consumers are still experiencing issues with ComEd’s new billing system, so some of the more outrageous increases could be potentially attributed to a billing mistake.) The average bill increase was 184 percent when adjusted for the one outlier case. Here’s a sample of some 20 submissions we received: Jim H. “Our July bill is 58 percent higher than last month, 33 percent higher than last July. $162 for a one level 2BR 1000 square foot frame ranch. Although we do have Central air.” John G. “In May, ComEd told me that I used no electricity, but charged me a $41.05 delivery fee. In June I was charged $4,060.02 for that month’s use – for a little three bedroom house. We’ve been working on getting it resolved ever since.” Toni H. “My bill went from $10.50 to $67 and I have solar panels– 34 Solar panels on my roof. These corporations are out of control and I am tired of being nickled and dimed to death.” William D. “My bill last month was $99. This month it is estimated at $260. How are we supposed to live like this? It’s insane.” Peggy K. “My normal bill is approximately $80. My last bill was $170! That’s an outrageous increase!” Craig R. “My July 22, 2024 bill was $159.82 for 1033 kWh. Supply and delivery were $67.93 and $69.35 respectively. The remainder is taxes and fees. My July 23, 2025 bill is $215.24 for 1151 kWh, an increase of 34.68 percent on my bill and 11.42 percent on my usage. My electricity supply charge is up 53.8 percent YOY.” Vera P. “My bill is very consistent – high $70s to mid $80s. In June, my bill was $94. In July, it is $187; almost double.” Michael R. “I have no panic stories to relate, but my bill is $92 higher than it was last month even with the new air conditioner and furnace. So I guess I’m one of the semi fortunate ones.” Judy N. “I recently received my electric bill and was surprised. When I compared it to my bill from last year, the supply charge was twice as much, and the delivery was 55 percent more than last year. The only thing that was lower were […]

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ComEd sets up relief fund, as customers deal with summer price spike

Elizabeth — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:01:23 +0000

UPDATE: ComEd announced on July 29 that the relief fund has run out of money. It was a step in the right direction, but it’s painfully short of what is needed. We call on utilities statewide to provide more shareholder money for rate relief. In the wake of a 45 percent spike in its electricity price, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) has set up a $10 million relief program, funded by its parent company, for certain income-qualified customers. As of July 7, eligible ComEd customers can now sign up. In a consumer alert, CUB explained the spike was due to an increase in the cost for reserve power, also called “capacity.” The increase, which took effect June 1, will cost customers on average about $10.60 a month more, depending on your usage, through May 31. In June, ComEd announced it was joining with Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago and the Salvation Army to launch a Customer Relief Fund to provide one-time grant assistance (up to $500 for residential customers, up to $1,000 for nonprofits) to its income-eligible customers. Here are the details: Who is eligible? Current residential customers (homeowner or renter) who have past-due balances AND are at, or below, 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level may qualify for a one-time grant of up to $500. (Note: Income documentation is required for individual customers, but documentation for LIHEAP customers will be waived.) OR 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that are current customers AND have past-due balances may qualify for a one-time grant of up to $1,000. (Note: The organization must have a registered nonprofit account and submit an IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter.) Where can customers apply? Go to this special ComEd webpage: ComEd.com/Relief for information about the program. Once there, you can apply directly in-person or online through one of these two organizations: Salvation Army: At this site, the Salvation Army includes online forms in both Spanish and English, and for customers who are on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and not on that program. The Salvation Army also offers physical forms you can download, print, fill out and turn in to your local Salvation Army corps or service center–but it adds this important note: “Online registration is the quickest and easiest way to apply!” Salvation Army locations are listed at the bottom of this Salvation Army site. If you have questions, call 312-667-2010 NHS: At this site, NHS details the requirements of receiving a grant, and also has a link to an online form. If you have questions, call 1-888-688-5438 or email BillPayAssistance@nhschicago.org, or visit NHS offices in Chicago, Monday – Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at:South Side – 639 E. 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60619 West Side – 2950 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622 Central/Westloop – 850 W. Jackson blvd., 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60607 How will the grant show up on my bill and how long will it take to get approved? If your application is approved, the grant will show up as a credit on your bill. It may take up to two billing cycles to appear as a credit on your account. Are […]

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Renting your first apartment in Chicago? Here’s how to read your utility bills

Elizabeth — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 21:13:54 +0000

By: Citlali Dominguez So you just moved into your new apartment, and you’re having trouble reading your utility bills. Don’t panic, CUB is here to help! We’ll start with electricity! A simple way to understand your bill is, supply + delivery + taxes & fees = amount due. Supply, what you pay for the actual electricity, takes up about a half to two-thirds of your bill. Delivery, about a third to a half of your bill, is what you pay ComEd to get the electricity to your home. Electricity usage is billed by the kilowatt-hour (kWh)— roughly enough power to run a typical window air conditioning unit for an hour. Check out the sample bill provided by ComEd: Let’s break it down: In section 1 you will see your personal information: name, address, and phone number. Make sure your information is correct. In section 2 you will see the issued date, which means the date that your bill was created. This section also will include a personalized account number, due date (when the payment is due), and amount due (the amount owed to ComEd). Section 3 shows your total usage over that past 13 months. Each month displays how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity were used. You will also see a bolded word that reads Actual. This means the utility read your meter that month. ComEd sometimes estimates your usage for the month, but that shouldn’t happen with modern meters that can be read remotely. So if it ever does say “estimated,” contact ComEd. Section 4 is not as scary as it looks! The first long section demonstrates your average energy usage and temperature for that current month. It also shows how much your usage has increased, percentage-wise, since the year before. The box on the bottom left shows last month’s average energy usage and temperature. The box on the right shows the average energy usage and temperature of last year. Section 5 shows the supply section, which is the cost of your electricity usage for that month. Here you will see the company that supplies your electricity–either ComEd or an alternative electricity supplier. In this case the bill says “ComEd provides your energy.” (Beware of bad supplier deals. If a company other than ComEd is listed here, make sure to check what per-kWh electricity supply price you’re paying and how it compares with ComEd’s price, which should be listed on your bills as the “Price to Compare” in the “Updates” section on the back page. It’s likely that ComEd will have the lower supply rate. ) Section 6 shows the delivery cost, which is the cost of delivering energy to your apartment for that month. This section will always list ComEd as the company that delivers your electricity–even if a different company is listed as your supplier in the Supply section of your bill. Beneath the big circle that is in the middle of your ComEd bill you will find the cost of taxes and fees. See that wasn’t so bad! Now let’s tackle the back of your electricity bill! It should look similar to the example below. Don’t […]

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ComEd’s Hourly Pricing: How to calculate your capacity charge

Celeste — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 17:27:11 +0000

Want to estimate your capacity charge before signing up for ComEd’s Hourly Pricing program? Here’s how to calculate it: 1. Go to this page: https://secure.comed.com/MyAccount/MyService/Pages/UsageDataTool.aspx, choose “View Summary Data Online,” and “Add” your ComEd account number. 2. Click “View Usage Data” and it’ll take you to a results screen showing vital stats. The “Capacity PLC” at the top is a calculation that is unique to each customer. (PLC stands for “Peak Load Contribution,” and according to ComEd it represents your expected energy usage during high-demand hours on hot summer afternoons. The PLC is your households electricity usage averaged over 10 system peak periods the previous summer. ) 3. Once you find your “Capacity PLC,” you multiply the following four figures: The “Capacity PLC” (unique to your account) The “scaling factor” (1.00712) The “forecast pool requirement” (0.9380) The monthly capacity charge rate ($8.331 per Kilowatt-Month) 4. The product of those four numbers is your capacity charge. For more information, check out CUB’s Hourly Pricing fact sheet.

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Amid 45% Increase in ComEd’s Power Price, CUB Calls on Utility to Work With Customers to Keep Them Safe, Cool, Connected This Summer

Elizabeth — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:48:42 +0000

With Commonwealth Edison customers facing a 45 percent increase in the price of power, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Wednesday called on Illinois’ largest electric utility to work with people struggling to afford their bills this summer so they can keep their electricity on and protect themselves from dangerous heat. “This will be a difficult summer for far too many customers, and we urge ComEd to do everything possible to work with people so they stay safe, cool and connected this summer,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. She called for ComEd to offer consumer-friendly payment plans that give customers a longer time to pay off their debt. ComEd’s summer “price to compare”— the rate customers should compare with alternative supplier offers—is: 10.028 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from June through September. Note: This rate includes the supply price and a transmission charge. The increase impacts the supply section, which makes up about a half to two-thirds of ComEd bills. ComEd does not profit off supply—they pass those costs onto customers with no markup. A new, non-summer supply rate, which has yet to be announced, will take effect Oct. 1. The price of electricity is expected to be elevated at least through next May. ComEd has estimated the increase will cost customers an average of 10 to 15 percent, or $10.60 more per month, over the next year. The spike is connected to an increase in the price for reserve power, also called “capacity.” CUB argues that capacity costs have skyrocketed largely because of policy problems with the power grid operator for northern Illinois, PJM Interconnection, which runs an auction that determines the price of capacity. CUB has tips to help Illinois consumers get through the expensive summer at CUBHelpCenter.com, including: Use energy efficiency to soften the blow of the price spike.Simple actions can help, such as weatherizing windows and doors and turning off unnecessary lights. Don’t take risks that keep your home too hot–efficiency is about eliminating waste but staying safe and cool this summer. Stay in contact with your utility. Consumers who are struggling should contact their utilities to inquire about payment plans and learn about energy efficiency programs. Consider programs to help ease costs. ComEd’s Peak Time Savings program gives customers the opportunity to earn bill credits by reducing electricity usage during high-demand periods, typically summer afternoons. Also, Illinois’ community solar program offers customers the benefits of solar power without having to install panels on their homes. All offers currently guarantee savings compared to ComEd’s supply price. CUB’s resource, SolarInTheCommunity.com, can help you carefully shop for offers. Beware of rip-offs. Since 2015, Illinois consumers have lost about $1.8 billion to alternative electricity suppliers. These suppliers are impacted by the same market conditions that are causing utility prices to increase, so it’s likely, even in this expensive market, that ComEd is your best bet. One exception: If your community has negotiated a power deal with a supplier, it’s possible the price is lower than ComEd’s supply rate. Confirm the price and find out when the offer expires. While the price spike is bad news, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) is providing some relief. Illinois’ landmark energy law requires a line item on ComEd bills called […]

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CUB Warns of June 1 Price Spike on ComEd Bills

Elizabeth — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:17:19 +0000

Commonwealth Edison’s summer price for electricity is set to increase significantly on June 1, but Illinois’ landmark energy law, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), will give consumers some relief, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Monday, citing filings by the utility. CUB urged ComEd to work with customers struggling to afford their bills this summer, and said the elevated price highlights the need for long-term reforms. At a news conference, CUB explained the causes of the price spike and said it has launched CUBHelpCenter.com, which has consumer tips on how to get through an expensive summer. While cautioning that pricing information could be adjusted before June 1, CUB said its preliminary review of ComEd tariffs filed Friday shows the utility’s summer supply rate, June through September, would be about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). This rate, which includes the supply price and a transmission charge, would represent about a 45 percent increase over last June’s price of 6.9¢ per kWh. The price will change again in October. CEJA will partly offset the price spike. The law requires a line item on ComEd bills called the Carbon Free Energy Resource Adjustment (CFERA) to subsidize energy generated by Illinois nuclear power plants. But consumer advocates pushed for a provision that changes the charge to a credit when energy prices go above a certain level, as in June. According to CUB’s review of ComEd tariffs, this credit will reduce ComEd’s price by about 1.7 cents per kWh, or about 17 percent, in June. While it could be adjusted up or down on a monthly basis, a credit of some amount is expected to stay on bills for at least the next 12 months. “We’re glad CEJA gives customers some relief in the short term, and in the long term we will continue to work at fixing the root causes of this price spike, mainly poor policy from PJM Interconnection, the power grid operator for northern Illinois,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “As we advocate for pro-consumer reforms at PJM and the State Capitol, we also urge ComEd to work with customers to keep them connected this summer.” CUB’s Consumers for a Better Grid campaign advocates for better PJM policies, and in Springfield the consumer group is working to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB2473/HB3779). The bill would implement a number of pro-consumer policies, including expanding energy efficiency programs and requiring data centers to pay for their own energy costs, rather than those costs being heaped on consumers. CUB provided information about the price spike as well as consumer tips: What’s the cause? The price for reserve power—called “capacity”—has skyrocketed. While higher demand sparked by power-hungry data centers is a factor, this problem is largely because of poor policies undertaken by the regional power grid operator in ComEd territory. PJM has been slow to fix a clogged “interconnection queue”—the line of power plants, largely wind and solar generators, waiting to connect to the grid. (Read CUB’s Q&A about the capacity spike.) What part of the bill is impacted? Supply, which is the cost of the actual electricity, and […]

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