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Ameren

Illinois natural gas prices drop (for now)

By Samantha Vercellino   The temperature isn’t the only thing that’s dropping. Gas prices have fallen by up to 31 percent this month, compared with December. Here’s a sampling of what major Illinois utilities are charging this month compared with last: Utility Company Jan. 2015 (cents/therm) Dec. 2014 (cents/therm) Percent Ameren  56.308 57.17 -1.51%…...

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News that hits us like a big lump of coal: Gas prices up by as much as 30% this December

By Samantha Vercellino As cold grips the Midwest in the opening days of December, we’re forced to welcome natural gas prices that are up to 30 percent higher. Major Illinois utilities are charging consumers 13-30 percent more to heat their homes this December compared to last. Peoples Gas showed the…...

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Bracing for winter? CUB is!

At CUB we’re preparing for another busy winter. Are you ready? In the first half of 2014, CUB’s crew handled 2,507 complaints/inquiries from gas and electric customers reeling from polar vortex price spikes. That’s a 79 percent increase from the previous year. Despite this week’s burst of winter, the cold season isn’t…...

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Your donation doubled

We have some great news today.  A longtime CUB supporter has offered to match all donations!  That’s right:  anything you donate will be doubled today only. This couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.  The utility parent companies have already raked in more than $8 billion in 2014 profits,…...

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Act now to avoid skyrocketing electric prices

We’ve been updating you on two developments that could have disastrous consequences for your power bills.  Now’s the time to act to protect YOUR interests. ComEd customers:  Tell Congress to fix a terrible court ruling that could increase your rates by 20% A recent federal court ruling stripped power grid operator PJM (the…...

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Ameren customers, this could cost you $300 million!

Illinois coal plant owner Dynegy wants Ameren to join an East Coast power grid that could increase YOUR electricity rates—by $300 million. We blogged about this worrisome proposal last week, and now we want to hear what you have to say. In case you missed it, here’s some background on the situation: Dynegy…...

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Illinois’ most hated bill: Cable gets the nod!

The results are in from our survey on Illinois’ most hated bill. It’s cable, but judging by the survey results there’s plenty of bill-hate to go around. 1) Cable: 627 votes, 35.8 percent 2) Natural Gas: 461 votes, 26.4 percent 3) Electric: 296 votes, 16.9 percent 4) Phone: 240 votes,…...

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Polar vortex price spike? Read all about it!

At about the same time the “polar vortex” slammed Illinois with record cold this month—it also generated some heat from consumers who complained to CUB about an unheard of spike in electricity prices. That’s right, electricity prices. About eight out of 10 Illinois homes heat with natural gas—so what business…...

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Tell the ICC: Protect the Ameren rate cut!

It’s not often you get good news about your electric bill, but Ameren customers were happy to hear that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) ordered a $45 million electric rate cut, which went into effect on Jan. 1. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Ameren to file a “petition for…...

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Q&A on ComEd and Ameren rate hikes

What happened? On Wednesday, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) voted to give ComEd a $340 million electric rate hike. It also voted to give Ameren a $32 million natural gas increase. How much are rates going up? ComEd said the average household bill will see an increase of about $5.50…...

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