Citizens Utility Board, Chicago Release Calculator For Customers to Determine Whether Aggregation Rate Is Better Than Default Service

Expecting questions about the recently modified electricity agreement negotiated by the City of Chicago and Integrys Energy Services, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and the City released a free calculator to help 700,000 households better understand their rates under the municipal aggregation program.

The CUB-City calculator, at www.ChicagoPowerCalculator.com, is designed to help Windy City residents decide whether to stay with Integrys or switch back to Commonwealth Edison, CUB said.

The new supply agreement includes significant fixed monthly fees in addition to volumetric charges, making comparison to ComEd's purely volumetric rate more complex.

Chicago municipal aggregation rates for June 2014 through May 2015 are:

• Single family homes: 5.299 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), plus $22.36 monthly fee

• Apartment/Condominiums: 5.299 cents per kWh, plus $9.06 monthly fee.

To compare, ComEd is charging 7.596 cents per kWh June through September 2014 (excluding PEA).

In a few steps, the calculator allows consumers to input an estimate of their monthly electricity usage, pick their housing type (single-family or apartment/condo) and calculate what they would pay for electricity with ComEd versus Integrys.

CUB said that ComEd's non-summer rate has yet to be finalized, and therefore the calculator shows consumers what they would pay for the summer months, June through September, when most people use the bulk of their power. CUB will email calculator users when it updates the tool with ComEd's October rate.