After a summer of sky-high electric bills, ComEd is offering Chicago customers some relief next year with $803 million in state-mandated nuclear energy credits and a new low-income discount program.
The average ComEd residential customer can expect to receive about $65 in total bill credits over five months to partially offset high electric supply rates as part of the state’s clean energy legislation. In addition, qualified low-income customers are eligible for up to two years of percentage-based savings on their monthly bills beginning in January.
But ComEd is also seeking a one-time $268.5 million reconciliation rate adjustment from the Illinois Commerce Commission this month to recover extra capital expenses the utility said it incurred above its projected budget in 2024.
If the annual reconciliation adjustment is approved, ComEd customers will see higher delivery charges on their monthly bills next year, cutting into the energy credits and low-income discounts.
While the reconciliation increase request covers a variety of expense overruns, nonprofit watchdog group Citizens Utility Board is most concerned with $48 million the utility is seeking for the botched implementation of a new computer billing system last year.
ComEd installed the customer information and billing management system in February 2024, which left millions of customers unable to pay bills or see their balances online for more than a week, while some solar customers didn’t receive their renewable energy credits for months.
Nearly one-fifth of the utility’s rate adjustment request is to recover costs associated with the bungled billing upgrade, everything from the protracted implementation of the new computer system to high-intensity support for customers to smooth the impacts during the bumpy rollout, according to ComEd.
“It’s ridiculous for ComEd to try to raise our rates in connection with billing problems the utility giant created itself,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said in a news release. ”Customers shouldn’t pay higher rates for ComEd’s incompetence.”
ComEd customers are already dealing with higher delivery charges after the ICC approved a four-year, $606 million rate hike last December as part of the utility’s power grid improvement plan, increasing average residential customer bills by $1.84 per month through 2027.
The $268.5 million reconciliation adjustment would raise average ComEd residential customer bills by an additional $3.41 per month in 2026, the utility said.
“As part of the required annual reconciliation process, ComEd has filed a request with regulators for a $268 million adjustment to reflect prudently incurred costs for delivering safe, reliable service to more than 9 million people across northern Illinois in 2024,” ComEd said in a statement Monday.
In November, two administrative judges issued a proposed order recommending the ICC reduce the requested reconciliation rate increase by $16.4 million. Consumer advocates would like to see a more significant reduction in the reconciliation request when the ICC issues its final order later this month.
The ComEd rate request is tied to delivery charges, which generally represent half the monthly bill.
Meanwhile, supply charges – the other half of the bill – have been going through the roof, in large part due to increased demand from the proliferation of power-hungry data centers.
ComEd customers saw their bills spike over the summer from the one-two punch of higher wholesale electricity prices and increased usage during a heat wave, with some reporting a triple-digit increase in their total bills during the month of June.
PJM Interconnection manages the electricity supply grid for 13 states, including ComEd’s 4.2 million customers in northern Illinois. In July, an annual capacity auction for expected reserve electricity needed during peak demand jumped 22% to a record $329.17 per Megawatt-day, meaning even higher supply prices for ComEd and its customers beginning in June 2026.
Last week, ComEd announced it would be rebating $803 million as part of the state’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which requires nuclear plants to issue customers a Carbon Mitigation Credit when energy prices are high.
The average ComEd customer can expect to receive about $13 per month in carbon credits on their electric bills over the first five months of 2026, the utility said. A subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon, ComEd serves about 70% of the state’s customers.
“Thanks to the foresight and leadership of Governor Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly, CEJA puts our customers on a path to a cleaner future while upholding our commitment to ensuring sustainability and affordability,” Gil Quiniones, president and CEO of ComEd, said in a news release.
ComEd, which saw a $10 million relief fund for low- to moderate-income customers depleted in a matter of weeks during the summer, also announced last week it is launching the low-income discount program in January, offering a percentage-based monthly savings for qualified applicants.
The program is designed to reduce energy bills to 3-6% of household income, with savings based on average use and income tier. Customers who qualify will receive the discount for 12 to 24 months.
CUB’s Moskowitz applauded both initiatives, and said in a statement the consumer group plans to “spread the word” about the low-income discount program to people who qualify. But at the same time, CUB said the utility’s wasteful spending and delivery rate hike requests are pushing more customers to need assistance in paying their bills.
To that point, the new customer service and billing system — an ostensible upgrade for the utility — still isn’t working correctly, according to CUB.
“ComEd broke it,” Moskowitz said in the news release. “Customers shouldn’t have to pay to fix it.”
The ICC is expected to rule on the $268.5 million reconciliation rate hike by Dec. 20.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com