Letter: CEJA helping reduce home energy costs

We are all paying more for oil and natural gas, and that is a major cause of high inflation. Thanks to the bipartisan Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), Illinois ComEd customers are actually seeing reduced electric bills in the form of a "Carbon Free Energy Resource Adjustment."

The adjustment in my May-June bill was a whopping 4.3 cents per kilowatt hour, reducing the normal electric supply cost of 11.04 cents by more than 38%.

This customer refund is a negotiated feature of CEJA, which provided approximately $700 million to Exelon nuclear assets over a five-year period to prevent their retirement due to competition from low-cost natural gas generators.

Wholesale electricity prices nationwide are high due to expensive natural gas, so the Illinois nuclear units have become very profitable. CEJA foresaw this possibility and included a refund feature, which the Citizens Utility Board estimates will result in $1 billion in savings in the first year alone.

Other CEJA features such as renewable energy standards, electric vehicle credits and support for clean energy investments will continue to reduce our state's reliance on polluting fossil fuels.

Oil and gas prices are set by worldwide supply and demand. By fighting climate change, Illinois has reduced its reliance on these fuels, lowered our electricity costs and set the stage for lower costs in the future.

The war in Ukraine and disruptions in energy supply show how important clean energy is. For the sake of our economy, national security and our health, the U.S. can and must do more to insulate ourselves from fossil fuel price spikes.

This doesn't mean shutting down the fossil fuel industry. It means creating a gradual transition away from oil and gas to a clean electric-based economy. The sooner we get started the better

Thomas Rausch

Glen Ellyn