You Have a Choice on Your Electric Supply – But what does this mean?

Lake County residents have a choice on who provides the supply portion of their electric service and choosing a different electric supplier may be able to save you money.

There are a few important things to know:

 Any Lake County resident can choose to purchase their electricity supply from an alternative supplier. Essentially, this means you can shop for suppliers providing service in your area and compare prices, charges, other terms, and select a new supplier. (*More on how to do this later).

 If you live in unincorporated Lake County, this option is available to you now.

If you reside in a community that has pursued aggregation, your municipality has secured an electric supply plan and you can opt-in, or opt-out. If you opt-out, you can also shop around and choose an alternative supplier now. Find out if your community has implemented a municipal aggregation program.

If you choose a different supplier, the only difference is a new price for electric supply on your bill. You will continue to call ComEd for outages, emergency services, and questions about your residential service.

I’m thinking about switching suppliers- where do I start?

By shopping for electric supply, you may be able to save money, find suppliers that use green/renewable energy resources, or get different types of services.

Visit the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) website for a list of suppliers in your area. (Retail Electric Suppliers must be certified by the ICC and registered with the utility before offering service).

As you shop for electric suppliers, think about what is most important to you, including pricing, terms, enrollment, billing, and service. Questions to consider before selecting your electric supplier.

Keep in mind, if you are comparing offers strictly on price, there might not always be a simple way of calculating in advance which option will have the "best price," especially when considering longer periods of time. The ICC provides guidelines on how to compare various offers.

If I don’t want to select a different electric supplier, are there different rate options?

First, you may choose to remain with ComEd for your supply service. Current supply prices are in effect until May 31, 2013, and after that, ComEd will go through the process of purchasing electric supply which will result in new utility electric supply prices for the period June 1, 2013 and beyond.

ComEd also offers real time or hourly pricing options to help residential customers manage their usage. Hourly prices for electricity are posted a day ahead so customers can determine the best time to run major appliances for the next day. The real time pricing option requires a special meter to be installed at your home. Visit ComEd’s website for real-time pricing information.

Have more questions? It’s important to be an informed consumer. Visit http://pluginillinois.org/ for detailed information on electric choice in Illinois.