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Demand Response

Demand response: a win for you, the environment, and the grid

Demand response programs are opportunities for consumers to take an active role in lowering their electric bills, reducing stress on the electric grid, and cutting pollution. Sounds like a good deal. But what are “demand response” programs? At their core, all demand response programs incentivize consumers to shift their electricity…...

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So what are my choices in the electric market?

  At CUB, we think it’s good to have choices in the electricity market, but it has to be informed choice. Educate yourself to navigate your choices in Illinois’ power market, and cut your electric bill. What are my options? If you are a ComEd or Ameren Illinois customer, here are…...

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Help the environment and cut your costs with ComEd’s Time-of-Day pricing program

With the introduction of smart meters across Illinois, consumers have more options when it comes to how they use and pay for electricity. ComEd’s new Time-of-Day Pricing Program—which charges different electric rates during different periods of the day—is one such option. So how does the Time-of-Day program work? Most customers…...

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ICC OKs new ComEd pilot program, giving electric customers more money-saving choices

Customers of Illinois’ largest electric utility are one step closer to enjoying another program to help them save money and lower their reliance on dirty sources of power: “Time-of-use” (TOU) pricing. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) have been pressing for this innovative program for more…...

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Don’t miss your savings: Deadline to enroll in Peak Time Savings is tomorrow

Attention ComEd customers: If you haven’t already signed up for Peak Time Savings (PTS), tomorrow, Tuesday, April 30, is the last day to do it in order to participate in the program this summer. (Enroll here. It’s easy!) PTS earns you a credit on your electric bill when you reduce your…...

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Tips to make the most of ComEd’s Hourly Pricing

With ComEd’s Hourly Pricing, a program that charges the hourly market rate for electricity instead of the standard fixed rate, you could see average savings of 15 percent on the supply portion of your electric bill by shifting your energy-usage to hours when power prices drop (like nights and weekends).…...

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New EDF/CUB study shows potential of real-time pricing to cut power bills

Ninety-seven percent of a sample of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) customers would have saved money in 2016—without changing their electricity use—had they participated in a “real-time pricing” program in which power prices change hourly, according to new research released today. In a broad, first-of-its-kind study, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Citizens…...

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Supreme Court decision big win for all electricity customers

On Monday regulators and consumer advocates won a major victory against big power generators at the U.S. Supreme Court—and that’s good news for anyone who pays a power bill. In simple terms, the case (FERC v. Electric Power Supply Assocaition) was an argument over whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission…...

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Breaking: ‘Slam dunk’ for electric customers at the Supreme Court

It’s never easy taking on big energy companies, but then there are days like this. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling in support of an important efficiency program called Demand Response. Read CUB’s statement. Demand Response is any program in which power grid operators pay electricity users to…...

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A showdown with big power generators at the U.S. Supreme Court

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in a case that promises to have a major impact on future energy costs in the United States. The Supreme Court is reviewing a 2014 Appellate Court decision that stripped the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) of the authority to promote and regulate “demand-response” programs in the energy market. What…...

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