{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Citizens Utility Board","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org","title":"Renting your first apartment in Chicago? Here's how to read your utility bills | Citizens Utility Board","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"DKdvRXTCeq\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/06\/27\/renting-your-first-apartment-in-chicago-heres-how-to-read-your-utility-bills\/\">Renting your first apartment in Chicago? Here&#8217;s how to read your utility bills<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2025\/06\/27\/renting-your-first-apartment-in-chicago-heres-how-to-read-your-utility-bills\/embed\/#?secret=DKdvRXTCeq\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Renting your first apartment in Chicago? Here&#8217;s how to read your utility bills&#8221; &#8212; Citizens Utility Board\" data-secret=\"DKdvRXTCeq\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","description":"By: Citlali Dominguez So you just moved into your new apartment, and you\u2019re having trouble reading your utility bills. Don\u2019t panic, CUB is here to help!\u00a0 We\u2019ll start with electricity! A simple way to understand your bill is, supply + delivery + taxes &amp; 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.\u00a0\u00a0 Electricity usage is billed by the kilowatt-hour (kWh)\u2014 roughly enough power to run a typical window air conditioning unit for an hour. Check out the sample bill provided by ComEd:\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s break it down:\u00a0 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).\u00a0 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\u2019t happen with modern meters that can be read remotely. So if it ever does say \u201cestimated,\u201d contact ComEd.\u00a0 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\u2019s 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\u2013either ComEd or an alternative electricity supplier. In this case the bill says \u201cComEd\u00a0 provides your energy.\u201d (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\u2019re paying and how it compares with ComEd\u2019s price, which should be listed on your bills as the \u201cPrice to Compare\u201d in the \u201cUpdates\u201d section on the back page. It\u2019s 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\u2013even if a different company is listed as your supplier in the Supply section of your bill.\u00a0 Beneath the big circle that is in the middle of your ComEd bill you will find the cost of taxes and fees.\u00a0 See that wasn\u2019t so bad! Now let\u2019s tackle the back of your electricity bill! It should look similar to the example below. Don\u2019t [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Electric-Bills-blog-photo.png","thumbnail_width":1600,"thumbnail_height":900}