Illinois AG Says Lawmakers Should "Ban" Residential Electric Choice

In announcing a settlement regarding allegations against Sperian Energy Corp. (see related story today), Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a news release that Illinois lawmakers should "ban" residential electric choice.

"This settlement is another step in reforming the ARES industry that the legislature should ban in the residential market," Madigan said

"Alternative retail electric suppliers have a terrible track record of deceptive marketing tactics and selling overpriced electricity," Madigan said

The AG's office said in a news release that, "Currently, there are at least 103 alternative retail electric suppliers, or ARES, authorized to sell electricity in Illinois. Data shows that nearly 90 percent of the time, ARES’ customers are paying higher prices for electricity than customers pay with traditional utilities."

The AG's office said in a news release that, "According to the ICC, ARES customers in the ComEd territory as a whole have paid more than $138 million more for electricity than ComEd customers from June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018. Statewide, residential and small commercial customers enrolled with ARES have paid over $600 million more in electricity costs in the last four years."

As previously reported, the ICC data cited by the AG includes the impact of customers served by an ARES via opt-out municipal aggregation