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CUB statement on Ameren Illinois’ $48 million electric reconciliation rate hike

Jim Chilsen — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:03:36 +0000

The following is a statement from CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz: We’re glad state regulators reduced wasteful and inappropriate spending and shaved about $11 million off of Ameren Illinois’ electric rate-hike request. But the utility still received an increase of about $48 million, and we’re concerned about customers being unable to afford their utility bills among so many cost increases for other necessities such as food and healthcare. Under state regulatory law, Ameren 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 Ameren 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 Ameren Illinois a rate hike of about $48 million as part of an 8-month “reconciliation” case (Docket 25-0382). Last year, Ameren won a $308.6 million increase, spread out through 2027. However, a provision in state regulatory law allows Ameren to petition the ICC to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if they go over-budget on capital expenditures. In its reconciliation case, Ameren pushed for another $59.6 million. (CUB opposes utilities having this reconciliation benefit.) Over the course of the case, consumer advocates, including CUB and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, uncovered at least $14 million in wasteful spending in Ameren’s reconciliation proposal. A history of Ameren Illinois rate hikes in recent years: 2023: The ICC rejected Ameren’s first attempt at a four-year rate plan in 2023–in part because the utility didn’t do enough to show how the plan would be affordable or beneficial to customers. The utility got a smaller rate hike ($56 million) than it wanted. 2024: Ameren proposed a new plan last year, and the ICC approved a $308.6 million increase, spread out through 2027. 2025: The ICC approved an additional $48 million rate hike, as part of an 8-month reconciliation rate case. The rate hike will take effect before the end of the year.

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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 statement: Capacity market prices reflect need for data center reform

Jim Chilsen — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 23:03:56 +0000

The following is a statement from CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz on the results of PJM Interconnection’s 2027-28 capacity auction, announced Wednesday, Dec. 17 (Read the full statement here.) After a third straight auction marked by unacceptably high prices, it is painfully obvious that our capacity market is breaking under the weight of data center demand and a dysfunctional interconnection queue. Even worse, since the auction results fell below the reliability requirement, consumers are getting the worst of all worlds: paying more money for reduced electric reliability, while existing generators get a windfall. These results ramp up the urgency for decisive action from both PJM Interconnection and individual states, such as Illinois, to rein in runaway data center-related energy demand and protect customers from future price spikes. Data center companies are among the wealthiest in the world, and it is simply unconscionable that customers should pay unbearably high power costs to foot the bill for data center energy guzzling. This is a historic moment that requires action and leadership from PJM and the states in defense of electric customers. What’s good for reliability is good for affordability: Data centers must be held accountable for their own costs. Without real reforms, in just a few years 67 million electric customers in the PJM footprint could face rolling blackouts and an escalation of power bills that make the current price spikes seem tame. While there is a long list of actions that are required, these reforms are at the top of the list: PJM should extend the lower price cap to protect customers, and eliminate any price floor. PJM and states should require data centers to bring their own new clean energy. States should require that data centers operate under maximum energy efficiency and assign data centers into a special rate class to make sure those facilities, and not everyday customers, are paying for data center-related upgrades to the distribution system. –CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz Background: On Wednesday, Dec. 17, PJM Interconnection, a “Regional Transmission Organization,” announced the results of an auction to determine the price for reserve power, or “capacity.” PJM is the largest grid operator in the country, serving 67 million customers across all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia (including Commonwealth Edison’s 4.2 million customers). The auction (technically referred to as the “Base Residual Auction”) was held Dec. 4-10. It set a capacity price of $333.44 per Megawatt-day, which will be in effect from June 1, 2027 through May 31, 2028. Capacity costs are payments consumers make to power generators–the companies that own power plants. These costs are a key component (roughly 20 percent) of the price ComEd customers pay for electricity. ComEd has not yet announced how this will impact its supply price in June of 2027. Like last year, the capacity cost hit a price cap negotiated by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The price is more than 11 times higher than what the price was for 2024-2025. That price cap is set to go away after this auction, when a status quo, higher price cap is reinstated. Capacity auction prices in recent […]

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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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Update for ComEd customers: Bigger CEJA credit on the way

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:31:48 +0000

As we’ve reported before, in a year of spiking electricity prices, Commonwealth Edison bills have included a per kilowatt-hour (kWh) credit made possible by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). This credit has given ComEd customers some relief in a tough year, and it will get even higher for a few months in 2026. Here’s a summary: The credit will be an estimated average of roughly $13 a month, around January through May of 2026, but the actual amount will depend on the customer’s usage. (CUB is working on getting an actual per-kWh amount for the credit from ComEd and to nail down the exact timeline of the credit.) The credit, for both residential and commercial customers, will be included in an existing line item on bills: the Carbon Free Energy Resource Adjustment (CFERA). Note: In ComEd tariffs, it’s called the Carbon-Free Resource Adjustment. More Background: CEJA created a line item on ComEd bills called the Carbon Free Energy Resource Adjustment (CFERA), which was designed to support carbon-free energy produced by Illinois nuclear power plants. But under a provision pushed by consumer advocates, this adjustment becomes a bill credit when energy prices go above a certain level, like we’re seeing now with the PJM capacity market. The credit is getting bigger in January, thanks to Inflation Reduction Act production tax credits that were issued to nuclear generators. Under CEJA, a tax windfall like this must be shared with utility customers. The IRA was gutted last summer by the reconciliation bill, but some benefits from that legislation still linger, and this is an example. Bottom line: CUB is still waiting to hear more details from ComEd as to the exact timeline and the amount of the credit. What we know right now is that ComEd estimates the credit will be a rough average of $13 a month, around January through May. That is good news, as we work for long-term solutions to high electricity prices. As CUB told the media: “We’ve got a lot of work to do to bring down energy bills for consumers, but it’s good news that at a time of elevated power prices, Illinois’ strong energy policy is once again giving some relief to consumers. CEJA provides some protection as we work for long-term energy affordability solutions.”

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Amid electricity price spike, CUB joins advocates to urge passage of the Clean & Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act in Fall Veto Session

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 17:05:01 +0000

Amid an electricity price spike sparked by unprecedented power demand, CUB joined other advocates to urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act (SB25) in the October veto session. The legislation would implement a number of reforms to help reduce power prices and lower consumers’ utility bills in the long run. “Illinoisans are hurting from electricity price spikes – we call on state leaders to act and protect consumers by getting the CRGA Act across the finish line,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said at a news conference. “Illinois urgently needs the CRGA Act because it would expand energy efficiency programs and add more battery storage projects to the power grid to help bring down electricity prices and lower bills.” The Fall Veto Session is Oct. 14-16 and 28-30. “Illinois faces a long road of rapidly escalating power bills if we don’t act now. For the sake of our power bills, we must pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act,” Moskowitz added. Illinois has made historic steps forward in securing clean and affordable energy for consumers thanks in large part to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), but the state now faces unprecedented energy challenges. After two decades of relatively steady demand, electricity usage is now skyrocketing due to power-hungry data centers. What’s more, poor regional and national policy hampers Illinois’ progress. Over the summer, Congress passed a budget reconciliation bill that at the end of the year will phase out solar and energy efficiency tax incentives that have helped consumers make home improvements to reduce their utility bills. Also, regional power grid operators have failed to quickly connect the most affordable resources to the power grid. As a result, painful price spikes have slammed Ameren and Commonwealth Edison customers across Illinois. “The Illinois General Assembly and Governor’s Office have been working hard over the past year to get Illinois’ energy policy right. We know that the answer to rising electricity costs is to continue to implement CEJA and pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act,” said state Rep. Ann Williams, who spoke at the news conference. “The CRGA Act accelerates clean energy resources like energy efficiency and battery storage, which are cost-effective and strengthen our energy grid, while also removing barriers to clean energy deployment and giving Illinoisans tools to save money on their electricity bills. This bill is ready to be voted on this veto session and now is the time for action.” The CRGA Act offers a comprehensive plan to meet the challenges facing our electric grid by making investments that prioritize affordability and reliability for consumers and businesses. Among its commonsense provisions, the legislation would: Add 3 gigawatts (GW) of battery storage to the system, enough to power millions of homes and help bring down energy prices. Battery storage is like insurance for our power grid. By making smart, cost-effective investments in battery storage, Illinois can make our power grid more resilient and reduce costs for consumers from volatile energy markets. Give ratepayers tools to reduce their utility bills like increasing access to rebates to weatherize […]

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Alert: One-time $150 grants available for income-qualified Ameren customers, while funds available

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 21:29:01 +0000

In a difficult summer of spiking electricity prices, Ameren Corp.–the parent of Ameren Illinois–has announced that income qualified customers who have fallen behind on their energy bills can apply to receive a one-time $150 grant, while funds are available. This support is coming from an Ameren program that is providing $4 million in assistance to agencies in Illinois and Missouri. Ameren customers who qualify for LIHEAP can apply for the $150 grant from Ameren through their local Illinois LIHEAP agency. “We encourage customers who have fallen behind on their bills to reach out to a local LIHEAP agency to determine their eligibility and apply for funding,” said Joe Solari, vice president of customer experience at Ameren. Ameren Illinois’ summer electricity price shot up about 50 percent on June 1, increasing 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. Ameren’s price is expected to decrease from more than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to about 8-9 cents per kWh on Oct. 1. Read CUB’s Q&A and visit CUBHelpCenter.com for more information. To identify your local LIHEAP agency and determine your eligibility for a grant, visit Help Illinois Families or call 1-833-711-0374 while funds are available. Ameren listed other financial and energy-saving opportunities: Events: In September and October, Ameren Illinois will host events to connect customers to available funding and provide consultation on in-home energy saving strategies. Energy Efficiency: Learn about energy-saving opportunities, including an income-qualified Home Energy Assessment, at AmerenIllinoisSavings.com/SaveMoney. Energy Assistance: LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program): Income qualified customers can apply for financial help through LIHEAP when the new season begins on Oct 1. Ameren says: “In addition to receiving a onetime benefit on your energy bill, LIHEAP eligible customers will automatically be approved for a credit on their monthly gas bill through the Natural Gas Service Discount program. Also, deposit and late payment charges will be waived.” For a comprehensive list of energy assistance programs, bill payment options and money-saving resources, visit AmerenIllinois.com/PathToSavings.

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CUB statement on FERC ordering PJM to make interconnection improvements

Jim Chilsen — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 15:58:42 +0000

The following is a statement from Clara Summers, manager of the Citizens Utility Board’s Consumers for a Better Grid Campaign. (Read CUB’s full statement here.) We thank the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for ordering PJM to take specific steps to finally update its interconnection queue rules to meet national standards. PJM is now required to plan for battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) in commonsense ways. In light of two straight years of record-high prices in PJM’s capacity auction–and demands from multiple states to clean up its act and better protect customers from price spikes–it is high time for the power grid operator to get back on track. Sixty-seven million customers in the nation’s largest power grid have been subjected to unreasonably high power bills because of PJM’s inaction. We hope that these changes, combined with PJM’s recent plans to use AI to more quickly complete studies, will speed up the woefully beleaguered interconnection queue. We urge the grid operator to make the ordered changes and work with PJM states and environmental and consumer advocates to process the interconnection queue faster and reduce prices. Background: On Thursday, July 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a ruling on PJM Interconnection’s request (filed in May of 2024) for exceptions to comply with Order 2023. FERC… For the third time sent the issue back to PJM to come up with a new plan for compliance around how it studies battery storage and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs). PJM will finally be required to make realistic assumptions and plan for the grid of the future. However, FERC also approved PJM’s longer interconnection queue study timeline. FERC Order 2023 is a set of reforms the Commission issued in July of 2023. It is designed to help power grid operators across the nation modernize their grids and streamline the interconnection process to reduce the wait time for new power plants to come online. PJM has the nation’s longest wait times in its “interconnection queue,” the line of new energy resources waiting to connect to the grid and come online. The wait time for those resources–mostly wind, solar and battery projects–is more than five years. The resources stuck in PJM’s queue could provide abundant and low-cost energy for the region and bring down the record-high prices in PJM’s capacity market, but the wait times are so long that some of them don’t even get built. In June of 2024, seven organizations — including CUB, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice — filed a protest to PJM’s request for exceptions. Among other things, CUB argues… If PJM has publicly stated that the grid is in a crisis caused by supply constraints and rising demand, then why is it slow-walking interconnection reforms? PJM, for example, requested that FERC allow it 540 days to complete two studies required for the interconnection process–significantly longer than the time called for in the federal reforms. PJM takes an illogical and problematic stance on batteries, assuming that energy storage will sap electricity from the grid during peak-demand times, when it […]

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CUB Q&A: Solar and EE tax credits are being phased out–so what now?

Jim Chilsen — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 18:39:05 +0000

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Breaking: CUB statement on final passage of budget bill

Jim Chilsen — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 18:48:53 +0000

A statement from Jim Chilsen, Director of Communications, Citizens Utility Board (CUB): The budget reconciliation bill that passed today represents higher power bills for consumers in Illinois and across the country. Tax credits that help everyday people use solar power or energy efficiency to cut costs at home are wildly popular and highly successful. These incentives are cost-effective ways to cut utility bills, reduce energy prices for everyone, make the grid more reliable, create jobs and spark the economy. This federal legislation ramps up the importance of Illinois continuing to pass strong, pro-consumer energy legislation, such as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act, to build off what we have achieved and better protect consumers from high utility bills. These times call for strong consumer advocacy, and CUB is dedicated to working for consumer interests at the local, state, regional and federal levels as we fight for lower utility bills across Illinois. Background: The House of Representatives passed the budget reconciliation bill on Thursday, July 3, by a vote of 218-214. The bill passed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The vote was 50-50, with the Vice President breaking the tie. The federal legislation now heads to the President for signing. Among other things, the bill ends these tax credits by Dec. 31, 2025: The “residential clean energycredit” helps consumers recoup up to 30 percent of the costs of energy-saving projects, like installing rooftop solar The “energyefficient home improvement credit” helps people recoup up to 30 percent of the cost (up to $1,200/a year) for energy-saving projects, like a professional home energy audit; installing insulation; door, window and electric panel upgrades; and installing a high-efficiency air-conditioning unit. (There’s an additional credit of up to $2,000 available for buying an electric heat pump or heat pump water heater.) Multiple studies have shown that rolling back clean energy tax credits could increase the average family’s energy bill by hundreds of dollars within a decade. In Illinois, the League of Conservation Voters has estimated that the legislation could lead to a $168 a year increase in residential energy bills, and a 21 percent increase in commercial and industrial energy bills.

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