The gas utility company’s pipe replacement program had been on hold for over a year so the Illinois Commerce Commission could determine how to move forward with the program, which has been years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Thursday’s decision does not have an immediate effect on customers’ bills, according to state regulators.

Following almost a year of legal battles and fierce public opposition, water utility Aqua Illinois is set to raise its rates in 2025. The privately owned water utility has not released an estimate of the exact impact the increase will have on customer bills in 14 northern Illinois counties.

Staying warm during Chicago’s frigid winters will get more expensive if Peoples Gas is permitted to resume its massive pipe replacement program, according to a report released Tuesday by the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.

Illinois American Water, which serves 1.3 million people, is seeking a $152.4 million rate increase. Aqua Illinois, which serves 273,000 people, is seeking a $19.2 million increase. The requests must be reviewed by the Illinois Commerce Commission before the utilities are allowed to modify their rates.

Environmental and consumer advocates predict more legal protections from the heat in the near future, as climate change continues to wreak havoc.

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with filing rate cases. 

Chicago utility Peoples Gas is requesting a multimillion-dollar bump to its already record-high rate increase approved by regulators last month. Consumer and environmental advocates have pushed back strongly against the request.

Your gas bill could be about $12 per month higher next year — that’s the average increase per customer Peoples Gas estimates if it succeeds in raising rates. It’s the first time in nine years the utility company has asked for a rate hike.

Millions of Illinoisans could see higher energy bills next year, but the size of those increases will be determined by a state agency that has recently had its oversight powers expanded.

Utilities companies like ComEd and Peoples Gas make money by delivering energy. The rates they’re seeking to hike are for distribution, including infrastructure like pipes and transmission lines, and the profit they can tack on to those costs.

Some robocalls are helpful, but most – representing politicians or telemarketers – have become an annoying fact of life. We speak with the author of a new guide aimed at preventing those automated calls.

With Chicago residents increasingly forgoing landlines for cellphones and other technology, state legislators are considering freeing AT&T from a longstanding mandate that it offer copper-wire "plain old telephone service."

The Citizens Utility Board and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan have accused Peoples Gas of deliberately misleading regulators about the ballooning cost of a huge program to upgrade gas lines around Chicago. Tonight, we discuss the safety upgrades, the program's estimated cost and the claims about the company's actions with representatives from CUB and Peoples Gas.

The watchdog group Citizens Utility Board on Wednesday alerted Chicago customers to upcoming changes to their power bills and offered tips for avoiding bad deals.

Will Chicago area customers see yearly natural gas rate hikes without any oversight from the state? Paris Schutz has the latest on a controversial proposal in Springfield that watchdogs are warning against.

ComEd could lose more customers if hundreds of Illinois municipalities change the way residents get electricity. We take a closer look at the Election Day referendums, and what it could mean for you.