How to compare electricity rates in Illinois, offer by offer

Look at four things: the price per kWh, any monthly fee, how long the price lasts and what happens when it ends. In Illinois you can skip a fifth thing that matters in other states. Homes pay no fee to leave a supplier early. Plug In Illinois says this has been the rule since Jan. 1, 2020.

A deal that renews by itself must say so up front. Illinois law asks for a bold "Automatic Contract Renewal" notice at the start of the offer. Find it, and write down the end date.

The state's own lists show many of these lines side by side for each utility. They are on the Plug In Illinois Compare Offers page. The Commission says suppliers must honor the prices they post there.

Pick your utility and type your kWh. Then type one, two or three offers: the price, the monthly fee and the length. You can also put your town's program rate in the third row. The tool lines them up next to your utility and marks the one that costs least.

This is an estimate of the supply part of your bill, not a bill. It uses your utility's price to compare as we last read it, which holds until May 31, 2027. It leaves out delivery, taxes and ComEd's monthly adjustment. The tool keeps nothing you type.

Run it twice: once with a winter month and once with a summer month. Your kWh can double between the two. A monthly fee hurts most in a small month. On Ameren, a big month makes a flat offer harder to win with, because Ameren's price drops above 800 kWh.

If you only have one offer and want the full break-even math, our price to compare checker goes deeper on that single offer.

Your bill names your utility. Find it in the table. If you pick no supplier and no town program, this is the supply price you pay.

These numbers are read from Plug In Illinois, last on October 25, 2026, and a robot keeps them current. After the end date a new summer price starts, and no one knows it yet. A fixed offer that runs past that date may look better or worse once it is posted.

MidAmerican also serves a small part of Illinois. On October 25, 2026 its state offer list had 0 home offers, so there was nothing to compare there.

We read the Commission's offer lists on October 25, 2026. A person reads them, not a robot, because the Commission's site asks robots not to. Here is what the ComEd list showed.

So most fixed offers were above the utility's price that day. The middle fixed offer was 11.79¢, against ComEd's 10.103¢. The offers that did win were few, so the test in the tool matters more than the size of the list.

Ameren is split into three zones, and its lists were shorter.

Your zone is printed on your Ameren bill. Offers change often, so treat this as a picture of one day, not a promise.

A low number on a list does not always mean a low bill. Watch for these.

Here is a made-up example. An offer is 8.99¢ per kWh with a $9.95 monthly fee. The fee is the same each month, so it adds more per kWh when you use less.

At 400 kWh this offer costs more than ComEd's price to compare. At 1,200 kWh it costs less. That is why the tool asks for your own use, not an average.

Many Illinois towns buy power for all the homes in town. This is called municipal aggregation. If your town has a program, its rate is what you pay unless you opt out. So it is the number to beat, not the utility's price.

We checked the programs listed for the Ameren area. Of 259 with a price, 258 were above Ameren's price to compare. The middle town rate was 11.78¢ per kWh. In the ComEd area, 180 towns had a program with a supplier, such as Evanston, Oak Park and Skokie.

Put your town's rate in the third row of the tool. If an offer or your utility costs less, you can leave the town program. Your town's notice says how to opt out. For two places in detail, see our guides to Peoria and Chicago.

Get your numbers, gather a few offers, test them, read the terms, then sign and set a reminder.

1. 1
   Find your utility and your kWh.

   Both are on your bill. Write down a winter and a summer month.

2. 2
   Write down the price to beat.

   Use the table above, or your town's rate if you are in a program.

3. 3
   Gather two or three offers.

   The state's Compare Offers page lists them by utility. Keep fixed with fixed.

4. 4
   Test them in the tool.

   Add each monthly fee and the length.

5. 5
   Read the terms.

   Look for the end date, the renewal line and whether the price is fixed.

6. 6
   Sign, then mark two dates.

   You have 10 days to cancel after the switch is processed. Also mark the day your deal ends.

You can go back to your utility for free. But Plug In Illinois says you may have to stay on utility supply for 12 months before you can pick a supplier again. Think about that before you leave a good deal.