1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="ThrnXcC4qJ"><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’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=ThrnXcC4qJ" width="600" height="338" title="“Renting your first apartment in Chicago? Here’s how to read your utility bills” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="ThrnXcC4qJ" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !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); /* ]]> */ </script> 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 […]https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Electric-Bills-blog-photo.png1600900