Consumer group warns ComEd customers of price hike this summer

Commonwealth Edison customers should expect a hefty rate hike this summer, according to a rate spike warning from an energy watchdog organization.

The Chicago-based nonprofit Citizens Utility Board said it expects ComEd bills to increase by $100 over the next year, beginning June 1.

During a virtual news conference Monday, CUB communications director Jim Chilsen said the average customer would pay about $10 more per month or about $100 more per year, Chilsen said. The 10 cents per kilowatt-hour increase would mean a 45% higher rate than last June.

Chilsen blamed years of poor policies and planning by grid operator PJM Interconnection for the rate increase.

“Because of poor policy at PJM, we will pay higher summer electric bills and big power plant operators will laugh all the way to the bank,” he said.

PJM is the nation’s largest grid operator, servicing 13 states from the Midwest to the East Coast. Grid operators are also responsible for managing the interconnection queue, which is essentially a waitlist for new power plants to access the grid and begin serving customers.

ComEd offers different pricing for summer and non-summer rates. Chilsen said the summer pricing, which is expected to increase bills by more than $10 per month, will last through September. He said it still is unclear how the rate will change in October.

While energy suppliers like ComEd and grid operators like PJM won’t profit from the rate increase, Chilsen said, power generators like Vistra Corp., Talen Energy and J Power USA stand to make a windfall.

Chilsen said the price of reserve power, or capacity, skyrocketed at a special electricity auction run by PJM last year. He said that was due, in part, to the rise of energy-intensive data centers, which drastically increase the energy needs of their municipalities and PJM is not prepared to support.

CUB campaign manager Clara Summers said a large data center can consume as much electricity per year as 100,000 households.

CUB has been working to combat these increases and ease the burden on energy consumers through the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. According to a CUB review, a credit required by the act will reduce ComEd’s price by about 17% in June. The law could be adjusted up or down every month, but a credit of some amount is expected to stay on bills for at least the next year.

Chilsen said CUB is also working to reform PJM policies through multiple fronts. At the state level, it is working to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which would require data centers to pay their own energy costs, expand clean energy programs, and implement reforms to grid planning, rate structures and local laws preventing access to alternative energy sources.

Chilsen offered customers several tips to ease the price increases, including weatherizing windows and doors, contacting ComEd about payment plans, considering community solar programs and checking energy assistance eligibility at helpillinoisfamilies.com.

Chilsen also warned customers that the rate increase could spur an increase in energy provider scams and said he expects many door-to-door salesmen will be trying to lure customers to alternative suppliers.

For more information, call CUB’s Consumer Hotline at (800) 669-5556, or visit CUB’s website.