Electricity

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…