Changes to Rate Options Around Illinois

Over the past few months Retail Electricity Suppliers and voter referendums on the municipal aggregation of electricity pricing has created a lot of new options for your household electricity. It's important to understand these new options to be sure to get the best deal for your home, and since most customers around Illinois are not on Power Smart Pricing there has been some confusion among our participants about how to properly compare these new choices.

How can I compare savings with Power Smart Pricing to offers from other electricity suppliers?
Since Power Smart Pricing started in 2007, participants have saved an average of 16 percent on their total electricity bills compared with what they would have paid on the standard residential rate. However, if you look at the electricity supply portion of the bill only, participants have saved an average of 25 percent on electricity supply with Power Smart Pricing. The program does not impact other line items under delivery services or taxes, which remain the same as they would be on the standard rate. In terms of dollar amounts saved, customers who would have paid an average of $100 per month on the standard rate (including all portions of the bill) have saved nearly $200 per year with Power Smart Pricing.

This year you may have noticed companies other than Ameren Illinois offering discounted electricity supply rates in your area. These companies are referred to as Retail Electric Suppliers. Retail Electric Suppliers are companies that have received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission to offer an alternative competitive price for the electricity supply that you use. Their offers cover the supply portion of your bill, but like Power Smart Pricing, do not change the delivery services portion of your bill. As a Power Smart Pricing customer, you need to be aware of the following in order to make an informed decision when considering switching to a Retail Electricity Supplier:

• If you sign up for a Retail Electric Supplier, you will be removed from Power Smart Pricing. At this time, you cannot enroll in both.
• Savings messages provided by Retail Electric Suppliers are not estimates of savings compared with the prices you pay with Power Smart Pricing. They usually reference how much you might save compared with the Ameren Illinois standard BGS residential rate. For more information about electricity supply prices with Power Smart Pricing and the BGS residential rate, go to powersmartpricing.org/about-hourly-prices/.
• Savings messages in offers from Retail Electric Suppliers usually refer to the electricity supply portion of the bill only. To make an “apples-to-apples” comparison of these offers with the savings you are getting with Power Smart Pricing, log in to the online bill comparison tool at www.powersmartpricing.org and look at your percent saved on the electricity supply portion of your bill only, or your total dollar amount saved. Since 2007, Power Smart Pricing participants have saved an average of 25 percent on electricity supply costs compared with the Ameren Illinois standard BGS rate.
• If you switch to a Retail Electric Supplier, you can switch back to Power Smart Pricing once you switch back to utility supply service.

What is municipal aggregation and how does it impact Power Smart Pricing participants?
In addition to the choices available to individuals, government entities such as municipalities and unincorporated counties may opt to negotiate rates on behalf of an entire community. This is referred to as municipal aggregation, and the government entity is known as a government aggregator (GA).
Government aggregation can be set up as “opt in,” meaning that residents need to sign up in order to be placed on the rate negotiated by the community. In other cases, it can be set up as “opt out,” meaning that residents will automatically be placed on the aggregation rate unless they request otherwise. In order for the government aggregator to pursue an opt-out strategy, the community must first hold a referendum. If the referendum passes, the GA can then negotiate a rate on behalf of all residents.

The government aggregator of each community will be responsible for deciding whether or not to include Power Smart Pricing participants in municipal aggregation, and if participants are included, whether they would need to opt in or opt out. This means that we do not know in advance which Power Smart Pricing customers will need to opt out of municipal aggregation if they wish to stay on Power Smart Pricing.

It is very important to read any correspondence provided by the GA or Ameren Illinois to find out how municipal aggregation could impact you as a Power Smart Pricing customer. This correspondence will let you know whether you need to take any action in order to either stay with Power Smart Pricing or move to the municipal aggregation rate.