ComEd letter: Why Me?

"Why did I get this letter?" "I got this letter and immediately called ComEd, but I was on hold so long, I hung up." "What is this all about?"

Those are the beginnings of a few conversations about this somewhat alarming letter people received in the mail over the last couple of days.

First, take a deep breath. Second, do not waste your time calling ComEd.

Though you are a special person, probably most of the other 599,999 people who got the same letter feel the same way about themselves. Yes, 599,999, but in fact, it is probably more.

Why
The reason you, and yes I, received this missile is because in January 2001 the great, supposedly wonderful, deregulation occurred in the Illinois power industry. (Anybody else long for the days of Ma Bell?)

At that time, supply and delivery were "separated." We, the people, were given the choice to select a supplier. 

ComEd, in our area, remained the delivery dudes. And, it is to them that we send our payments and complained when the lights went out or someone was going to be doing construction on our property.

Choosing appeared daunting to many. There were so many calls, letters, people knocking at your door. Others did not want a repeat performance as they had with switching gas providers a few years earlier. 

The City of Chicago decided to go into a contract with Integrys Energy Services, Inc. who aggregated supplies to provide the best, least expensive, prices. All those who did not chose another supplier were automatically signed up with Integrys. (In April 2015 Integrys was re-named Constellation.)

At the time of selecting suppliers, ComEd had long-term contracts that kept their prices higher than Integrys was able to buy elsewhere, explained Stephanie Folk of Elevate Energy. 

Choices
Citizens Utility Board (CUB), created by the Illinois Legislature, opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. To date, they estimate that they have saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds.

As explained by Jim Chilsen, CUB, ComEd, over time, has lowered their prices. Thus, the City decided to not renew their Constellation contract but to, once again, offer supply services.

There are many other suppliers from whom people may purchase electricity, while maintaining delivery service from ComEd.

Another alternative is real time energy, where people are charged . Elevate Energy (EE) began as a partnership with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2125 W. North Ave., ComEd in 2003 looking at rate options. Now, EE is a non-profit with a contract with ComEd as the administrators of the Real Time program. 

Stay tuned
CUB will be unveiling an online calculator that will assist residential electric customers. It has been designed to help people judge offers in the power market and avoid bad deals.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, don't worry about this one...we've got ya covered!