Illinois started a decade-long transition to electric choice in 1997. The two main utilities, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren (AmerenIP, AmerenCIPS and AmerenCILCO) sold their power plants and now only own the transmission and distribution wires that deliver electricity to your home or business.
Customers at ComEd, Ameren, MidAmerican Energy and Mt. Carmel Public Utilities all have the opportunity to save money by shopping for the supply portion of their electric bill.
At Ameren and ComEd, a customer's electric bill has been separated into two parts:
- Regulated distribution of power, which is still only provided by the utility, and
- Supply of the electric commodity, which is open to competition.
Customers can choose to receive their electric supply from their utility, or an alternate electric provider.
If customers don't choose an alternative electric provider, the utilities serve customers on 'default' service. Rates for default service are set by the competitive market, through a supply procurement portfolio developed by the Illinois Power Agency. The Illinois Power Agency's first procurement plan is still being developed, but as things stand now the agency would buy power once a year through a competitive solicitation. Rates would be set from the result of that procurement, depending on customer class.
Large customers at ComEd and Ameren -- 400 kilowatts (kW) and above -- have been declared 'competitive' by law. This means that their default service prices are set by the hourly price in the PJM or Midwest Independent System Operator wholesale market. These hourly prices can fluctuate wildly, so most large businesses have shopped for a flat electric rate from an alternative electric provider. ComEd is currently in the process of lowering its cutoff for hourly-priced default service to 100 kW.
Existing customers below 400 kW at ComEd and Ameren are served on fixed prices set by the Illinois Power Agency's procurement plan. While the agency's plan is still being developed, initially these default service rates will only change once a year, but they could change more frequently in the future.
Customers who choose an alternate electric provider still have their power delivered to them by their local utility, and contact their utility for all outage reporting. Customers may soon to able to choose to receive either a single bill from their utility for their delivery service and energy supply service, or can receive two bills, one from each company.
The Illinois Commerce Commission has reformed the natural gas industry to give customers a chance to shop for lower natural gas rates. The state's three main gas utilities -- Nicor, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas -- opened their service areas to allow customers to choose a different company to supply them with their gas supply. Customers choosing an alternate gas supplier will still have their gas supply delivered by the local utility, but customers will be buying their gas supply from a new company. A customer's natural gas bill has been separated into two parts:
- Regulated distribution of gas, which is still only provided by the utility, and
- Supply of the gas commodity, which is open to competition.
Customers can choose to receive their gas supply from their utility, or an alternate gas provider.
If customers do not shop for an alternate gas supplier, they receive default supply service from their utility. Under default supply service, customers pay either a'>
No matter who you choose to buy energy from, your local utility will continue to deliver your gas and respond to service interruptions and outages. You will still pay your utility for these services. Depending on your area, you can choose to receive a single bill from your utility listing your utility delivery charges and supply charges, or separate bills from the utility and alternate energy provider.
