Why your ComEd bills are going up this month

Residential ComEd customers in Illinois will pay more for electricity starting this month, as the utility passes along an increase in its supply costs.

The rate for kilowatt-hours — the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour — is being increased by PJM Interconnection, the Pennsylvania-based company that operates the electrical grid for 13 states in the Midwest and on the East Coast, ComEd officials told the Daily Herald.

Power-generating companies increased their prices at PJM’s most recent auction, and ComEd is passing that increase along to consumers, said Gil Quinones, ComEd’s president and CEO.

That will result in a roughly 10% increase, or about $10.60 more per month for the average residential customer.

The utility will not further increase bills to profit off the change, Quinones added.

“Supply is really a complete pass through,” he said.

The increase will affect about 4 million residential customers in Illinois, said Melissa Washington, ComEd’s senior vice president of customer operations and initiatives. ComEd’s commercial customers likely will be affected, too, but the amounts will vary, she said.

The new rate began June 1 and the increase will appear on bills customers receive this month, Washington said. Notes about the rate increase will be added to bills, she said.

The Citizens Utility Board, a Chicago-based nonprofit energy watchdog organization, warned about a likely ComEd bill increase late last month.

People can try to offset the rate increase by weatherizing windows and doors, contacting ComEd about payment plans or considering community solar programs, a CUB spokesman said.