This Earth Week, CUB released its first-ever solar guide to help consumers learn more about and navigate their solar energy options in the state. CUB’s Guide to Solar is a free, comprehensive introduction to solar energy for your home. Written in plain, easy-to-understand language, the guide educates consumers on how…...
ComEd customers get $38 million refund this month–not enough
This month, ComEd customers are getting their small share of a $38 million refund tied to the utility’s corruption scandal. March/April ComEd bills should have the following message in the “UPDATES” section: This month’s bill includes a one-time credit designated as “Deferred Prosecution Agreement” in accordance with the Illinois Commerce Commission’s…...
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…...
CUB pushes for relief for Ameren customers
Ameren customers have suffered under electricity prices that have doubled–and they’ve paid hundreds of dollars more to power their homes over the past year. That’s why CUB and other consumer advocates are urging the Illinois General Assembly to secure $200 million in electric bill relief. CUB covered the price spike…...
You’re a community solar customer in Ameren territory? Here’s what’s happening to your bills
By: Marina Minic Solar Programs Coordinator Community solar customers in Ameren territory have seen “bill adjustments.” CUB can explain: If you’re subscribed to community solar, you get a credit on your Ameren bill that corresponds to the amount of solar energy your subscription produced. That credit shows up as a…...
Get the details on geothermal heat pumps
By: David Weaver Carbon-Free Buildings Coordinator The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that geothermal heat pumps are the most energy-efficient system to heat and cool buildings and water. But how do they work? Will they work for my home? How much money will it save me? Should I make the…...
CUB partners with GAOI, MREA to launch its first-ever geothermal group-buy program
For the first time in its history, a top Illinois consumer watchdog is helping to launch an innovative program to help Chicago-area consumers install a geothermal heat pump system at a discount and cut their utility bills. The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is partnering with the Geothermal Alliance of Illinois…...
Teacher says CUB website invaluable in battling alternative supplier ‘scamsters’
Carolyn helps teach English as a second language–but her lessons have gone far beyond grammar. One day a student mentioned to the Champaign-area teacher that her utility bills had gone through the roof. What Carolyn uncovered was a problem all too common for Illinois consumers. A salesman from an alternative…...
‘I am not the gas utility’s ATM!’ CUB, consumer advocates rally outside Peoples Gas HQ to protest record rate hike
As Chicago struggles with a heating-affordability crisis and Peoples Gas rakes in five years of record profits, residents rallied outside the utility’s headquarters to slam the company’s record $402 million rate hike and urge state regulators and policymakers to hold the utility accountable. Waving signs like “I am not the…...
