Illinois Deregulation

The Opportunities of Deregulation in Illinois

Electric Choice in Illinois provides you with the opportunity to strategically manage, and possibly reduce, your business' electricity budget. In short, the new market means you have more options.

Instead of continuing to have electricity supplied by ComEd or Ameren, your business is free to choose from a number of retail electricity providers. With a retail electricity provider, your business can choose from a variety of different purchasing strategies. These may include fixed or index priced (market-based) products or portfolio products that offer a mix of fixed and index priced strategies, multi-year contracts, and most importantly, more competitive rates. Regardless of whom you select as your electricity provider, ComEd or Ameren will still be responsible for delivery and infrastructure-related services.

A History of Electric choice in Illinois
The Illinois Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 restructured the state's electric utility industry and offers customers choices and competitive prices. The law provided a phased-in approach to competition by lowering and capping rates immediately for residential customers. Large industrial customers could begin receiving their electric supply from competitive suppliers beginning in late 1999. The ability to use a competitive supplier was offered to other industrial and commercial customers over the next few years with all customers, including residential customers, able to use competitive suppliers beginning in 2002.

While customers have had the ability to purchase their supply competitively, many had not due to the imposition of stranded costs on shopping customers, along with the capped prices offered by the utilities. As of January 2, 2007, these and other barriers have been removed. Today, for commercial and industrial customers, Illinois has one of the more robust retail energy markets in the nation. In addition, the Illinois General Assembly has provided for an office within the Illinois Commerce Commission whose sole purpose is to foster retail electric competition for all customers, including residential and small commercial customers.

If you still have questions about what has transpired in the Illinois electric market, please contact us.