When Illinois’ 10-year price freeze ended January 1st, people were told to expect an increase of around 22-55%, according to BusinessWeek. Now the legislature is looking into why some Amren customers are paying on average up to 170% more than before the price freeze melted:

ICC staff estimated the average bill for an Ameren customer who uses electric heat went up between 88 percent and 170 percent in January, while ComEd customers with electric heat saw spikes of between 42 percent and 54 percent on average. ComEd is a subsidiary of Exelon Corp.

Commission chairman Charles Box cautioned that the commission will not be able to provide immediate relief because of hearings and review time mandated by law.

“It will not be a quick fix or result in credits to customers,” Box said. “We simply don’t have that authority.”

He urged Ameren to give customers relief in the meantime.

After getting blasted during a lengthy legislative hearing Tuesday, Ameren proposed an eight-point relief plan that included rebates for the biggest electricity users

Reader VAwful sends in a link to one of ComEd’s rate relief deals for Illinois customers. ComEd is offering to defer some of the rate increase at 3.25%. VAWful is wondering if this is a good deal. We’ll leave it to the comments. What do you think of ComEd’s program? —MEGHANN MARCO

State to investigate electric rates [BusinessWeek]
(Photo:geodesic)

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