The largest provider of telephone service in America will break the hearts of millions of Illinoisans if its plan to kill traditional home phone service is approved by state legislators. This year the Illinois Telecommunications Act—important legislation that protects consumer rights—is up for review, and AT&T wants its dismantled. The…...
Hot tip: ComEd’s Hourly Pricing program might be right for you!
More than a million Illinois consumers are with alternative suppliers, but CUB would like to alert people to yet another choice: Commonwealth Edison’s Hourly Pricing program. The program lets customers take advantage of hourly market-based electricity rates, which tend to be lower during nights and weekends. While not for everyone, thousands of…...
Gas prices are up–but don’t fall for these myths
Chicago-area natural gas prices this month are up 41-51 percent compared with last February–but don’t assume you’ll find better deals with an unregulated gas supplier. The most notable February increase is for Nicor Gas customers, who will see a 52 percent jump since last year, from 27 cents per therm to 41 cents…...
CUB featured on WGN-TV
WGN news last night ran a story that featured CUB’s petition to the Federal Communications Commission to ask for protections for cellphone data customers. The story profiles several customers receiving exorbitant bills for data overages, when they said they barely used their data at all. If you haven’t already, sign our…...
Victory! FERC rejects plan that could have sparked higher power bills in Central, Southern IL
CUB and other consumer advocates scored a major victory in Washington this week when federal regulators rejected a proposal that potentially would have cost Central and Southern Illinois consumers millions of dollars in higher power bills. On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said no to a proposal by…...
CUB honored with consumer education award
The Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative announced Monday that the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is a recipient of the group’s CLEAR Consumer Education Award for 2017. The annual CLEAR Awards, now in its fifth year, recognizes a utility, technology provider and nonprofit that serve as role models for smart grid consumer education…...
AG Madigan to ABC 7: Peoples Gas pipe replacement program could double Chicago gas bills
Attorney General Lisa Madigan told ABC 7 this week that Peoples Gas’ wasteful, mismanaged pipeline replacement program could double Chicago gas bills in coming years. So why is the utility saying NO to a cutting-edge technology that would help it replace pipes more efficiently? Please, send a message to the Illinois Commerce Commission to fix…...
One step closer to stopping Ameren’s attack on energy efficiency
This week our legal team received some good news: An Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) judge has recommended that the full ICC reject Ameren Illinois’ proposal to increase its customer charge by 9 percent. (Read CUB’s statement on the development.) Last August, the company had made the proposal, but CUB, Environmental…...
Stop: The “Raise Our Utility Bills Act”
New legislation was introduced in Washington this month that would kill efficiency standards and potentially hit Americans with billions of dollars in higher utility costs. H.R. 117 is called the “Energy Efficiency Free Market Act of 2017,” but a better name would be the “Raise Our Utility Bills Act.” The…...
