Illinois electricity suppliers: who may sell you power, and how to check one

Illinois calls a supplier an alternative retail electric supplier, or ARES. To sell to homes, a company needs a certificate from the ICC and must register with your utility. That is the whole test the state applies before a company may sell. It says nothing about price or service, so the license is where your checking starts, not where it ends.

The ICC posts its list of certified suppliers on Plug In Illinois. The page says each supplier on it has a certificate and has finished registration, and tells you to contact the supplier to learn whether it serves your area.

Why the gap between "registered" and "selling"? The offer lists below show how many names turn into priced offers. A name on a list is not an offer you can accept.

Most homes can. The answer depends on who delivers your power, and on one more thing. Pick the name on your bill and the checker shows whether you can shop, the price to beat and your first steps.

This is a guide, not a promise of service. It does not check your address, and your utility or the ICC has the final word on your case.

Who cannot choose? Plug In Illinois says electric co-ops and city-owned systems may offer choice but do not have to. A few homes on bill help are also told to be careful (see the checker). What about MidAmerican? Its own Illinois page says its customers can choose a supplier, and that the supplier sends a separate bill for supply only. MidAmerican bills you for delivery and answers outages.

A license does not tell you about price or complaints. Five checks do. Do them before you hand over your utility account number.

1. Find the company on the ICC listOpen the supplier list on Plug In Illinois, pick residential and your utility, and look for the exact company name.
2. Read its posted offerSuppliers must honor the prices they list on Plug In. The law also makes them post rates on their own site, with no login.
3. Look for the required lineSales material must say the supplier is not your delivery company, that you do not have to enroll, and what your price to compare is.
4. Read the complaint scorecardThe ICC posts six-month scorecards that compare each supplier's complaint rate with the market average. Bigger firms get more complaints.
5. Get it in writingAsk for the agreement and the price sheet before you agree. A promise on the phone is hard to prove later.

At the door. A seller who comes to your home must wear identification on an outer layer of clothing with the agent's full name, an agent number, a photo, and the company's trade name and logo (815 ILCS 505/2EE). The agent must say he or she is not working for your utility or a government body. Do not give your account number until you have decided to sign. A switch cannot happen without your verified approval.

The ICC lists the offers suppliers post for each utility. It does not say the list is complete and it does not rank offers. A person read each list on October 25, 2026 and tested every priced offer at 1,000 kWh a month against the price to compare. The ICC's site does not allow robots, so this is a dated snapshot, not a live feed.

Compare each cheapest fixed price in the chart with its utility's price to compare. The offers under that price are often short, variable or have a fee. A plan that charges by the time of day only helps a home that uses most power off-peak. A few rows also look unfinished, such as a price of zero with a monthly fee, so read each offer's own sheet. That is one day of one list, and the list changes often.

So why would anyone still switch? A fixed offer holds one price for the whole term, while the utility's price resets on set dates. A fixed offer can win in a year when the utility price rises and lose in a year when it falls. Nobody knows ahead of time. That is why the fee, the end date and what happens at renewal matter more than the headline price.

These come from the Illinois statutes and the ICC. Where the ICC's own pages seem to differ, we show both and the statute governs.

Complaints. Call the ICC at (800) 524-0795, or file online. The Attorney General's offices take calls too: (800) 386-5438 for northern Illinois, (800) 243-0618 for central and (800) 243-0607 for southern.

Some towns and counties buy power for all their homes, then pick one supplier. Plug In Illinois says an "opt-out" program enrolls you automatically after a local vote unless you send back the notice. An "opt-in" program enrolls only people who ask. These programs run in the ComEd and Ameren areas only, not in co-op or city-utility areas.

Another 21 places had passed a vote and had no supplier yet. Of the 458 places that listed a supplier and a utility area, 279 sit in the Ameren area and 179 in the ComEd area. Your bill shows whether you are in one: look for a supplier name you did not pick. For two cases in detail, read our guides to Peoria and Chicago. A city program can cost more or less than the utility price, so test it the same way as any offer.

Your supplier does the work. You do not cancel the utility, and no one visits your home.

1. Find your price to compareIt is on your bill and on Plug In Illinois, with the date it ends.
2. Pick an offerCompare the price, the monthly fee, the term and the renewal rule, not just the headline price.
3. Say yes to the supplierGive your account number only when you are ready. The supplier tells your utility.
4. Wait for the utility's letterThe utility mails a note with the supplier's name and the switch date. The 10 days start there.
5. Check the first billThe supply price should match your sheet. Call the supplier first, then the ICC.

The switch usually starts at your next meter read, and power does not stop. What not to do: do not call your utility to cancel, and do not sign a second contract while the first is still pending.

Our partner's plan finder shows plans it has on file for your ZIP. It is not the ICC list. Here is what it returned in our tests.

"No offers" means the finder has no plan for that ZIP today. It does not mean no supplier serves you. The ICC list can still show offers, and you can call suppliers from the state's list. Where the finder does show plans, compare each against your price to compare first.

ComEd's and Ameren's current prices to compare run from October 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027. The next price starts the day after that. Plug In Illinois posts each new number. ComEd's monthly Purchased Electricity Adjustment is not part of the price to compare, and it moves every month, so check your bill. Our price to compare guide explains the pieces, and the numbers on this page were last read on October 25, 2026.