Electricity

Natural gas customers in the Chicago suburbs and downstate Illinois are likely to see an increase in their monthly bills next year, but it's up to state regulators to decide how big a hike, if any, to approve.

The Ecology Action Center in Normal urges Bloomington-Normal residents to stay in the municipal electric aggregation program even with hefty rate increases coming this summer.

There’s a lot of questioning and online pushback happening in Bloomington-Normal right now concerning the arcane subject of municipal electricity aggregation.

The veto of a law to end a moratorium on new nuclear power plant construction in Illinois sets up a battle in the fall veto session. In his veto message, Gov. JB Pritzker appears to be saying the bill isn't ready for prime time.

There's already a lot of consumer angst about rising electricity rates in central Illinois. Ameren Illinois said the average bill for households in this part of the state could rise by $500-600 this year. And when there's that much pain and that much stress, lawmakers get calls.

The Ecology Action Center is urging Bloomington-Normal residents to look carefully at the data before making a choice on whether to opt out of the city and town negotiated electricity rate for the next three years.

The City of Bloomington and Town of Normal have picked a new electricity supplier to serve residents for the next three years (July 2022-June 2025). So-called "aggregator" Constellation NewEnergy replaces Homefield Energy as the new low bidder for bundled power rates.

Ameren Illinois has won approval from state regulators to begin construction next year on a $21 million transmission line project that will stretch across…