This morning, CUB joined with 200 consumer groups, environmental advocates, clean energy businesses, and community leaders to support the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). The legislation, Senate Bill 2132/House Bill 3624, sets a path for Illinois to keep utility bills in check as it works to be powered by 100…...
ICC investigates four alternative suppliers
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has brought four cases against alternative electric suppliers for allegedly violating marketing-related rules. CUB has gotten involved in the cases to make sure consumers’ voices are heard. Buried in the legal language are stories from consumers alleging outrageous behavior from some alternative suppliers. Here’s a…...
CUB in Your Neighborhood: March 2019 events
As part of CUB’s 35th Anniversary Clean Bill Campaign, we’re aiming to staff at least 500 events in 2019 with our Outreach team. The campaign’s goal is to clean utility bills of bad deals and wasteful spending, and to educate people about opportunities with clean energy in Illinois. Here’s where…...
Top six cities hit by robocalls
Last month, CUB published its first-ever “Guide to Fighting Robocalls“, and over 1,500 people signed our petitions urging the Big Telecom companies to take action against the influx of these annoying calls. Some robocalls are necessary, like school closings, pharmacy reminders, etc. But many are flat-out scams. According to YouMail, Illinois…...
Working for a clean energy future as easy as 1-2-3
The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) staffs more than 400 free events a year—which means just about every day the consumer group is somewhere in Illinois spreading an important message: clean energy = affordable energy. Jim’s a believer. He’s a frequent visitor to CUB events and recently dropped by our utility-bill…...
Executive Director’s February report
Here’s an update on the good work our donors helped make possible in 2019: The World Electric Vehicle Journal has published the CUB research team’s latest paper: “Charge for Less: An Analysis of Hourly Electricity Pricing for Electric Vehicles.” We found that a special ComEd pricing plan would have saved…...
A Chicago heating-affordability crisis?
Mismanaged pipeline program Last winter, Peoples customers paid about 80 percent more for service than Nicor Gas customers—and a big reason is the pipe program, which aims to replace 2,000 miles of aging gas mains. A state-ordered 2015 audit uncovered rampant mismanagement. Since then, the projected price tag for the program has quadrupled to up to $11…...
February 2019: CUB’s top battles
General Counsel Julie Soderna and Senior Attorney Kelly Turner and the rest of the CUB team have these battles on their to-do list in 2019: Most people don’t know that out-of-state energy corporations like NRG and Vistra are on the verge of convincing federal regulators to change electricity market rules.…...
Rate hike warning for Nicor customers
Nicor’s record-breaking $230M hike In November, just months after receiving a $93.5 million delivery increase, Nicor Gas was back at the ICC, asking for a $230 million rate hike. “This is the largest natural gas rate-hike request CUB has seen in 35 years of fighting for Illinois consumers, and it’s fueled by a massive profit rate…...
