By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – The Citizens Utility Board is applying some pressure to federal regulators over a 30 percent spike in some people’s energy bills.
The consumer group is asking people to sign a petition on its website, www.StopIllinoisRateHikes.org, to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order refunds for several thousand customers in central and southern Illinois.
CUB spokesman Jim Chilsen said Ameren Illinois customers saw their bills rise after last spring’s Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) auction, where energy generators like Exelon and Dynegy name their capacity costs.
“When the capacity costs go up, that has a big impact on prices,” Chilsen said. “Suddenly, in the auction last year, capacity costs for Illinois went through the roof. They skyrocketed for no good reason and that led to a 30 percent increase in the price Ameren Illinois customers pay for supply.”
Chilsen said Illinois consumers were charged 40 times more than any of the other 14 states involved in the MISO auction and that’s why he’s hoping the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission steps in to order refunds. The commission has already ruled that certain MISO auction rules in place last year were not reasonable and ordered rule changes for next spring’s auction in April.
Ameren doesn’t actually benefit from the increased capacity costs since its not legally allowed to profit off the supply portion of its bill.
Customers with other electricity suppliers like CornBelt Energy, along with communities that have municipal aggregation programs like Bloomington and Normal may not have seen the 30 percent spike in energy bills that other Ameren Illinois consumers saw.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
