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CUB Q&A: The Low-Income Discount Rate (LIDR) Program for gas customers | Citizens Utility Board

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 16:44:20 +0000

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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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High-bill Alert: Consumers face multiple electric/gas rate hikes—so who’s cashing in?

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 08 May 2025 14:29:21 +0000

Special report: Illinois consumers in 2025 are being threatened with rate hikes on both sides of the bill—supply and delivery—as big energy companies and utilities push for windfall profits. Energy Price Spikes In April alone, most Illinois utilities saw gas prices jump by up to 104 percent, compared to last year. In the current volatile gas market, prices could remain elevated through 2026. On June 1, ComEd and Ameren electricity prices are expected to rise. ComEd has estimated customers could pay $10.50 a month more, on average. What part of my bill is impacted? Supply, which is the cost of the actual gas/electricity. This makes up about a half to two-thirds of bills. What’s the cause? With gas, there are multiple factors, including extreme winter cold and profit-hungry U.S. gas companies exporting record amounts of the fuel overseas. With electricity, the price for reserve power—called “capacity”—has skyrocketed. That’s largely because of poor policies undertaken by the regional power grid operators—PJM Interconnection in ComEd territory and MISO in Ameren territory. PJM especially has been slow to fix a clogged “interconnection queue”—the line of more modern power plants, including clean and affordable wind and solar, waiting to connect to the grid. Who profits? Big energy companies that sell gas/electricity to utilities are making a killing. For example, power generators that serve PJM recently saw their capacity revenue jump six-fold to $14.7 billion. Utility Rate Hikes Utilities that received rate hikes in 2023 are back at the table. Nicor Gas wants the largest gas rate hike in Illinois history: $309 million. Meanwhile, Ameren Illinois is pushing for a $134 million gas hike, and Peoples Gas is expected to ask for one this year or next. Last year, Commonwealth Edison, Ameren (electric), Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois won rates hikes totaling more than $1 billion. What part of my bill is impacted? Delivery, what the utility charges to deliver gas to homes—plus a profit. This takes up about a third to a half of bills. What’s the cause? Utilities try to pour a significant amount of money into bloated, unnecessary projects, and seek a higher return on their investments. In these rate cases, CUB works to expose wasteful spending and inflated utility profit rates. Who profits? The utilities. Since 2017, Nicor has raised delivery rates by 114 percent, totaling $747 million, and its parent, Southern Co., has raked in $25.2 billion in profits. Ameren Illinois has raised gas rates by $202 million, or 50 percent, since 2018, and the utility’s parent, Ameren, has made $6.9 billion. In the current rate cases, Ameren (10.7 percent) and Nicor (10.35 percent) both want to win excessive shareholder profit rates. (Read about the “painful history” for Illinois gas customers.) CUB’s response CUB’s staff is working hard to offer critical, free services: Before state regulators: In testimony due this May, CUB is challenging the Nicor and Ameren rate hikes. We have helped save consumers $20 billion over our history, including $145 million last year. Before state legislators: CUB is fighting for utility reforms to bring down costs. One example is the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which would […]

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Correction: CUB WatchBlog Update | Citizens Utility Board

Elizabeth — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:32:09 +0000

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CUB’s monthly report on gas market volatility: October

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:56:08 +0000

Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Here’s what CUB uncovered in our review of prices in October, the first month of the winter heating season. Compared with last month, five of 9 major utilities are charging prices that are higher, ranging from about 4 percent (Illinois Gas) to 68 percent (Mt. Carmel). MidAmerican’s price jumped about 18 percent from last month. Four other utilities saw decreases from last month ranging from about 2 percent (Liberty Utilities) to about 13 percent (Nicor Gas, the state’s largest gas utility). Of other big utilities in Illinois, Ameren saw a 6 percent decrease, while Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas saw increases of 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Compared with October 2023, six out of 9 major Illinois utilities are charging prices that are lower, ranging from a 5 percent (Consumers Gas) to about 62 percent (Liberty Utilities) decrease. Nicor Gas is charging a supply rate that’s about 33 percent lower than last year. Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas are charging supply prices that are about 11 percent and about 17 percent lower, respectively. The three utilities charging higher prices saw increases of about 18 percent (Ameren), 49 percent (Illinois Gas) and about 57 percent (Mt. Carmel). Below are the PGAs for October and how they compare with a year ago: October Gas Prices Ameren Illinois– 49.31 cents per therm (up about 18 percent from October 2023) Consumers Gas– 38.30 cents per therm (down about 5 percent from October 2023) Illinois Gas– 46.19 cents per therm (up about 49 percent from October 2023) Liberty Utilities– 18.88 cents per therm (down about 62 percent from October 2023) MidAmerican Energy– 46.01 cents per therm (down about 4 percent from October 2023) Mt. Carmel– 83.31 cents per therm (up about 57 percent from October 2023) Nicor Gas– 28 cents per therm (down about 33 percent from October 2023) North Shore Gas– 32.60 cents per therm (down about 17 percent from October 2023) Peoples Gas– 30.06 cents per therm (down about 11 percent from October 2023) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. A few tips from CUB: See if you qualify for energy assistance. The application process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) opens again in October. To apply or learn more, visit this state of Illinois webpage. (Also, check out our Step by step guide to applying for LIHEAP.) Keep the lines of communication open with your utility. If you are having trouble affording your gas bills, it is vital that you contact your utility. Ask if you qualify for any energy assistance programs; see if you can set up a plan […]

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CUB’s monthly report on gas market volatility: September

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 22:02:18 +0000

Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Here’s what CUB uncovered in our review of September prices: Compared with last month, seven of 9 major utilities are charging prices that are lower, ranging from 1 percent (MidAmerican Energy) to 38 percent (Consumers Gas). Of the two other utilities, Ameren has the highest September price of any other major utility (its price jumped 7 percent from last month), and Mt. Carmel saw the biggest increase from last month, at 41 percent. The state’s largest utility Nicor Gas is charging about 11 percent less than it did in August, while Peoples Gas is charging about 22 percent less than it did in August. Compared with September 2023, six out of 9 major Illinois utilities are charging prices that are lower, ranging from 9 percent (Peoples Gas and Consumers Gas) to 79 percent (Liberty Utilities). Nicor Gas is charging a supply rate that’s 24 percent lower than last year. The three utilities charging higher prices saw increases ranging from 4 percent (Mt. Carmel) to 31 percent (Ameren) to a whopping 132 percent (Illinois Gas). Below are the PGAs for September and how they compare with a year ago: September Gas Prices Ameren Illinois– 52.48 cents per therm (up about 31 percent from September 2023) Consumers Gas– 41.48 cents per therm (down about 9 percent from September 2023) Illinois Gas– 44.5 cents per therm (up about 132 percent from September 2023) Liberty Utilities– 19.24 cents per therm (down about 79 percent from September 2023) MidAmerican Energy– 38.91 cents per therm (down about 17 percent from September 2023) Mt. Carmel– 49.57 cents per therm (up about 4 percent from September 2023) Nicor Gas– 32 cents per therm (down about 24 percent from September 2023) North Shore Gas– 29.74 cents per therm (down about 15 percent from September 2023) Peoples Gas– 28.68 cents per therm (down about 9 percent from September 2023) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. A few tips from CUB: See if you qualify for energy assistance. The application process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) opens again in October. To apply or learn more, visit this state of Illinois webpage. Keep the lines of communication open with your utility. If you are having trouble affording your gas bills, it is vital that you contact your utility. Ask if you qualify for any energy assistance programs; see if you can set up a payment plan to give you a longer time to pay off your bills; and inquire about no or low-cost energy efficiency programs the company offers. Practice energy efficiency at home. For tips and information about helpful […]

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CUB’s monthly report on gas volatility: July 2024

Jim Chilsen — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 02:07:00 +0000

Most gas utilities are charging higher supply prices, compared with last month and last year, according to CUB’s review of pricing information filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the ICC. Here’s a rundown of what we found. Compared with last month, eight of nine major utilities are charging prices that are higher, ranging from about 1.19 percent (Ameren Illinois) to 40.6 percent (Mr. Carmel) higher. One is charging a price that is lower, by about 19.7 percent (Liberty Utilities). The prices are much lower than they were during the spike of a few years ago, thankfully, but for six of nine major utilities, they’re up from 2023. Compared with July of last year, prices for those six have increased from 16.7 percent (Ameren) on the low end and a whopping 149.7 percent jump (Illinois Gas) on the high end. Illinois Gas customers are for the fourth straight month suffering a high increase compared with a year earlier: up 59 percent in April, 97 percent in May, 128 percent in June and nearly 150 percent in July. Three utilities are charging lower prices than last year, ranging from a 1.9 percent decrease for MidAmerican, a 7.7 percent reduction for Nicor Gas and a 61.7 percent drop for Liberty Utilities. Below are the PGAs for July and how they compare with last year. Ameren Illinois– 47.85 cents per therm (up about 16.7 percent from July 2023) Consumers Gas– 64.34 cents per therm (up about 69.7 percent from July 2023) Illinois Gas– 48.03 cents per therm (up about 149.8 percent from July 2023) Liberty Utilities– 35.31 cents per therm (down about 61.7 percent from July 2023) MidAmerican Energy– 45.94 cents per therm (down about 1.9 percent from July 2023) Mt. Carmel– 35.69 cents per therm (up about 59.5 percent from July 2023) Nicor Gas– 36 cents per therm (down about 7.7 percent from July 2023) North Shore Gas– 36.39 cents per therm (up about 22.6 percent from July 2023) Peoples Gas– 35.93 cents per therm (up about 44.8 percent from July 2023) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. Regulators can order refunds if they find the companies were imprudent, but that is a rare event. A few tips about your gas bill: See if you qualify for energy assistance. The application process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is open until Aug. 15. To apply or learn more, visit www.helpillinoisfamilies.com or call the Help Illinois Families Assistance Line at 1-833-711-0374. Keep the lines of communication open with your utility. If you are having trouble affording your gas bills, it is vital that you contact your utility. Ask if you qualify for energy assistance programs; see if you can set up a payment plan to give you a longer time to pay off […]

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CUB’s monthly report on gas volatility: June 2024

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 28 May 2024 12:04:55 +0000

Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Here’s what we uncovered in our review of June prices. Compared with last month, six major utilities are charging prices that are higher, ranging from about 2 percent (Ameren) to 65 percent (Mr. Carmel). Two are charging prices that are lower, ranging from about 1 percent (North Shore) to 24 percent (Liberty). One gas utility, Nicor, is charging the same price it did in April and May: 34 cents per therm. The prices are much lower than they were during the spike of a few years ago, thankfully, but in some cases they have jumped significantly since 2023. Compared with June of last year, prices for six of the utilities this month are higher, including an 18 percent increase (Ameren Illinois) on the low end and a whopping 280 percent jump (Consumers Gas) on the high end. Illinois Gas customers are for the third straight month suffering a high increase: 59 percent in April, 97 percent in May, and 128 percent in June. Three utilities are charging lower prices than last year, ranging from a 2 percent decrease for MidAmerican, a 13 percent reduction for Nicor Gas and a 54 percent drop for Liberty Utilities. Below are the PGAs for June and how they compare with last year. Ameren Illinois– 47.76 cents per therm (up about 18 percent from June 2023) Consumers Gas– 50.55 cents per therm (up about 280 percent from June 2023) Illinois Gas– 44.02 cents per therm (up about 128 percent from June 2023) Liberty Utilities– 43.97 cents per therm (down about 54 percent from June 2023) MidAmerican Energy– 44.84 cents per therm (down about 2 percent from June 2023) Mt. Carmel– 25.38 cents per therm (up about 87 percent from June 2023) Nicor Gas– 34 cents per therm (down about 13 percent from June 2023) North Shore Gas– 34.18 cents per therm (up about 28 percent from June 2023) Peoples Gas– 28.15 cents per therm (up about 20 percent from June 2023) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. Regulators can order refunds if they find the companies were imprudent, but that is a rare event. A few tips about your gas bill: See if you qualify for energy assistance. The application process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is open until Aug. 15. To apply or learn more, visit www.helpillinoisfamilies.com or call the Help Illinois Families Assistance Line at 1-833-711-0374. Keep the lines of communication open with your utility. If you are having trouble affording your gas bills, it is vital that you contact your utility. Ask if you qualify for energy assistance programs; see if you can set up a payment plan […]

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CUB’s monthly report on gas volatility: May 2024

Jim Chilsen — Wed, 01 May 2024 12:36:43 +0000

Gas prices are lower than they were a year ago for most customers in the Chicago region, thankfully, but five utilities from across the state saw increases ranging from 9 percent to 97 percent from last May, according to CUB’s review of Illinois’ gas market. Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Here’s what we uncovered in our review of May prices: Compared with last month, four major utilities are charging prices that are lower, ranging from about 1 percent (MidAmerican) to 9 percent (Liberty). Four are charging prices that are higher, ranging from about 1 percent (Ameren) to 15 percent (Consumers Gas). One gas utility, Nicor, is charging the same price it did in April: 34 cents per therm. Compared with May 2023, prices for five of the utilities this month are higher than a year ago, starting with Mt. Carmel (9 percent increase). Illinois Gas customers are for the second consecutive month suffering the highest increase: 97 percent in May; 59 percent in April. Four utilities are charging lower prices than last year, ranging from a decrease of 13 percent (Nicor Gas) to 24 percent (Peoples Gas). Below are the PGAs for May and how they compare with a year ago: Ameren Illinois– 47.06 cents per therm (up about 16 percent from May 2023) Consumers Gas– 39.41 cents per therm (up about 37 percent from May 2023) Illinois Gas– 42.33 cents per therm (up about 97 percent from May 2023) Liberty Utilities– 58.03 cents per therm (down about 16 percent from May 2023) MidAmerican Energy– 36.51 cents per therm (down about 20 percent from May 2023) Mt. Carmel– 15.42 cents per therm (up about 9 percent from May 2023) Nicor Gas– 34 cents per therm (down about 13 percent from May 2023) North Shore Gas– 34.62 cents per therm (up about 22 percent from May 2023) Peoples Gas– 27.28 cents per therm (down about 24 percent from May 2023) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. Regulators can order refunds if they find the companies were imprudent, but that is a rare event. A few tips about your gas bill: See if you qualify for energy assistance. The application process for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is open until Aug. 15. To apply or learn more, visit www.helpillinoisfamilies.com or call the Help Illinois Families Assistance Line at 1-833-711-0374. Keep the lines of communication open with your utility. If you are having trouble affording your gas bills, it is vital that you contact your utility. Ask if you qualify for energy assistance programs; see if you can set up a payment plan to give you a longer time to pay off your bills; and inquire […]

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October gas prices way down from last year–hoping for no prices spikes in the near future

Elizabeth — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:21:51 +0000

As Illinois enters the first month of the winter heating season, October gas prices continue the trend of being significantly lower than the last two years, with some glaring examples of the volatility that makes consumers so uneasy. Gas utilities file supply prices–called the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA)–each month with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). In October, gas prices are anywhere from down 46 percent (Liberty Utilities) to up 61 percent (Illinois Gas) from the prices last month. Most of the largest utilities in the state show increases: Peoples Gas (6.8 percent), MidAmerican (1.8 percent) and Ameren Illinois (4.5 percent). The exception is Nicor Gas, which is charging the same price as the month before. Below are the supply prices for October 2023, and how they compare with the prices from last October. October Gas Prices Ameren Illinois–41.81 cents per therm (down about 53 percent from October 2022) Consumers Gas–40.36 cents per therm (down about 59 percent from October 2022) Illinois Gas–30.97 cents per therm (down about 66 percent from October 2022) Liberty Utilities–49.61 cents per therm (down about 53 percent from October 2022) MidAmerican Energy–47.78 cents per therm (down about 50 percent from October 2022) Mt. Carmel–53.07 cents per therm (down about 59 percent from October 2022) Nicor Gas–42.00 cents per therm (down about 66 percent from October 2022) North Shore Gas–39.26 cents per therm (down about 54 percent from October 2022) Peoples Gas–33.69 cents per therm (down about 69 percent from October 2022) Note: Your utility is determined by where you live, so you cannot switch from one utility to another. Under Illinois law, gas utilities are not allowed to profit off supply prices—they pass those costs from gas producers and marketers onto customers with no markup. State regulators annually review the utilities’ gas-management procedures to ensure the companies did a reasonable job with their gas purchases, given market conditions, to hold down costs for consumers as much as possible. Gas prices: A recent (painful) history Gas supply price spikes are a recurring theme in the fossil fuel industry–there was a jump in prices in the winter of 2008-09, and in 2014 and through the winters of 2021 and 2022. The latest spike was first caused by extreme weather in February of 2021. Record cold in the southern United States for a time froze gas in wellheads and pipelines, limiting supply just as demand went up. The high prices were propped up by other developments, including Hurricane Ida in the summer of 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The elevated gas prices also caused electricity prices to skyrocket–because gas is often used to generate electricity. But the gas utilities hide behind supply and demand excuses. There’s more to this story in Illinois: Aggressive spending and rate hikes by Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois also have contributed to skyrocketing gas bills. (CUB is currently challenging $2.9 billion in rate hikes by all utilities (including the gas companies)–please sign our petition against your utility’s rate hike.) The last few winters have just reinforced the need to move away from expensive, dirty natural […]

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