With New Rate, Illinois Commerce Commission Sets Gold Standard for Energy Affordability
CHICAGO – The Illinois Commerce Commission on August 7 approved a new discounted rate affordability program for financially struggling electric utility customers in central and southern Illinois that will ensure that income-eligible customers pay no more than 3% of their monthly income toward electricity bills. The program, known as a Percentage of Income Payment Plan or “PIPP”, ensures that enrolled customers’ monthly bills won’t increase even when rates or customers’ usage increase. The 3% percentage figure is a nationally recognized measure of energy affordability.
The groundbreaking order, issued by the five-member regulatory panel, adopted recommendations made by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) on behalf of its low-income client, Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), in litigation before the Commission. It applies to customers served by Ameren Illinois Company.
The order rejected Ameren and ICC technical staff arguments that the new discount should be reduced by increasing the energy burden target to 4.5% and 9% for electric heating customers. The Commission also sided with NCLC and other advocates in rejecting Ameren’s proposed “Peak Usage Charge,” which would have assessed steep increases in rates each month for the highest one hour of usage between the hours of 3 pm and 7 pm.
“We applaud the Commission’s decision to create affordable rates for all,” said Karen Lusson, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, who litigated the case before the ICC. “If the energy burden had been set at a level higher than 3%, as Ameren proposed, the new program would have excluded thousands of low-income customers from receiving any assistance. We should be seeking to expand eligibility for energy assistance, not contract it.”
“With this decision, the Illinois Commerce Commission has set a gold standard for energy affordability,” said Dan Schneider, an attorney at Legal Action Chicago, who also represented COFI in the case. “By mid-2026, every major gas and electric utility in Illinois will have a low-income discount rate program in place—a result that is long overdue.”
The new PIPP program is scheduled to be available to customers whose income falls between 0% and 300% of the federal poverty level by June 1, 2026. Lusson noted that with the adoption of the new PIPP program, Commonwealth Edison Company’s tiered discount rates arriving on January 1, 2026, and gas utility discount rates approved in 2023, Illinois utility customers will be better protected from unaffordable electric and gas rates for the foreseeable future.
Ameren Illinois serves more than a million residential customers in central and southern Illinois. Commonwealth Edison Company serves electric customers in Chicago and most of northern Illinois.
Related Resources
- NCLC Report: Protecting Access to Essential Utility Service During Extreme Heat and Climate Change July 16, 2024
- Press Release: Illinois Gas Utility Customers Now Eligible for New Monthly Service Discounts October 4, 2024
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