* From last month…
Customers of ComEd and Ameren Illinois have lost more than $2 billion over the past 10 years to alternative electricity suppliers — businesses known for ringing people’s doorbells and promising great deals, according to an analysis of state data by the nonprofit Citizens Utility Board.
CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz called Illinois “a buyer-beware market.”
The offers are legal, but often they don’t deliver long-term savings, according to the consumer watchdog, which is calling for better consumer protections.
* This week…
Companies that say they offer consumers choice on their electric bills have accused Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul of unconstitutionally teaming up with Chicago-based plaintiffs’ law firms in a bid to use the power of the state to extract big settlements from the companies, generating big fees for the lawyers and millions of dollars to help Raoul finance his office’s politically-driven court actions opposing policies and goals of the administration of President Donald Trump.
On Aug. 20, so-called alternative retail energy suppliers Residents Energy LLC and IDT Energy Inc. filed suit in Chicago federal court against the Illinois Attorney General’s office and Raoul in his official capacity as the state’s top legal officer.
The lawsuit accuses Raoul of violating the rights to due process afforded to Residents, IDT and other alternative retail energy suppliers (ARES) under both the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and the Illinois state constitution.
Specifically, the lawsuit asserts Raoul violated those constitutional protections by deputizing three plaintiffs’ law firms, who normally specialize in class actions and other similar lawsuits, to take point on legal actions against Residents, IDT and other ARES. […]
The companies further noted that Raoul, a Democrat, has publicly stated that his office’s financial resources have been further strained in recent months by Raoul’s politically-driven legal actions opposing policies, executive orders and other initiatives from the Trump administration.
“These admissions reinforce that the Attorney General has an institutional and political interest in maximizing enforcement revenue - a profit motive that aligns with and exacerbates the bias created by his illegal contingency-fee arrangement with the deputized private-law-firm (Special Assistant Attorneys General),” the companies said in their lawsuit.
Um, the money generated by Raoul’s office goes to the General Revenue Fund.
The full lawsuit is here.
- ALIGNI - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 1:25 pm:
We have to send out regular reminders to our HOA members in Chicago, because these fraudsters the ‘alternative electricity suppliers’ employ with lie about who they are to gain access to our building e.g. Amazon delivery. Then proceed to knock doors throughout the building asking to see utility bills until we confront them for trespassing. While this suit is not directly tied to that, I am glad to see these companies may face some just deserts.
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 1:46 pm:
To which court of opinion are these suppliers appealing with that line of argument?
- Manchester - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 1:55 pm:
Not even a good effort on their part. They might as well have just said, “leave us alone so we can lie, cheat and steal from the consumers”.
- Homebody - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
Every “alternative energy supplier” is essentially a professional fraud group. They exist solely to trick customers into making bad financial decisions.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 2:28 pm:
When the alternate suppliers first came on the scene years ago, it was common to be able to get a double-digit percentage savings for awhile.
Then the benefits started to slowly go down to single digit percentages, then to break-even. Then additional monthly fees started to be added on to the slightly cheaper electricity rate making these plans more expensive in their totality than using ComEd as the supplier.
For years now there hasn’t been a plan that offers any discount at all over keeping ComEd as the supplier. The only way they can still be in business now is by hoping the plan and all its fees are confusing enough for people to switch.
“The lawsuit accuses Raoul of violating the rights to due process”
This is a real complaint they are making, about the lawsuits they are involved in? In a court of law?
Is Raul hovering over them Samuel L Jackson style while they try to eat their burgers, forcing them so settle?
It’s a nice rainy afternoon, so it should be fun to read through the lawsuit. I won’t be surprised if there’s some complaint about the constitutional right to go fishing contained in it.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 2:36 pm:
===Samuel L Jackson style while they try to eat their burgers===
lol
Thanks for that visual.
- hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Sep 3, 25 @ 3:04 pm:
I had to look up the attorney name on the lawsuit - Bennett Lasko — given the extra inflammatory accusations against Raoul as engaging in politically motivated lawsuits againat the Trump admin.
I was expecting to see some rabble rouser Tom Devore type but nope… dude’s public political background appears to be serving on the nonpartisan Highland Park school board and making small dollar donations to some Dems like Nancy Rotering and Jesse Ruiz — who ran against Raoul in the 2018 Dem AG primary.
Curious.