* Steve Daniels…

Households and small businesses that get their power from Commonwealth Edison will be unprotected from commodity price spikes in the high-demand summer months unless state regulators take fast action.

For the first time in the 14 years since the state took over the job from utilities of negotiating with power generators, the Illinois Power Agency was unable to reach an agreement on an electricity price in northern Illinois for the entire months of July and August, as well as part of June. […]

But ComEd customers won’t feel the increase in their wallets, thanks to the way the Pritzker administration structured a separate ratepayer bailout for Illinois nuclear plants now owned by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group.

In June, customers would have started paying about $2 extra on their bills to support the plants under the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, enacted last year. But, with energy prices soaring, the subsidy will instead become a credit beginning next month.

* ICJC…

Today, utility Commonwealth Edison filed new rates with the Illinois Commerce Commission that will provide direct credits of more than $1 billion to customers as a result of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that was signed into law last fall.

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), whose advocacy over several years was instrumental in passing the nation-leading legislation, released the following statement:

“At a time when electricity costs are skyrocketing across the country, Governor Pritzker negotiated protections against price spikes that mean electricity prices for ComEd customers will actually be going DOWN. For families struggling with the high cost of inflation, this is welcome relief. What could have been a nuclear subsidy was smartly negotiated into a billion-dollar bonanza for Illinois consumers.

“The deal shows the wisdom of Illinois’ approach to combat the climate crisis and create good-paying, equitable clean energy jobs, while saving money for consumers. […]

The “Carbon Mitigation Credit” program, created under CEJA, provides revenue certainty to three Illinois nuclear power plants, and was originally expected to potentially cost ComEd customers $700 million over the 5-year life of the program. The deal was structured, however, so that if wholesale electricity prices increased above a certain level, the nuclear plants would owe money instead. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, electricity prices have risen dramatically across the country.

As part of the deal, residential customers will see an average credit of $18/month starting in June through next May, as a separate line item on their bill. ComEd customers have not paid any money to the nuclear plants to date, and current electricity price forecasts show the customer credit will continue for at least the next several years.

* Ameren opted out of the Carbon Mitigation Credit program and its consumers will pay a steep price. Back to Steve’s article…

So central and southern Illinoisans will experience directly the brunt of an even more dramatic power-price spike down there. Their costs for energy will roughly double beginning June 1

* Back to the ICJC’s release…

We wish that Central and Southern Illinois consumers were also receiving this windfall, but Ameren chose not to participate in the Carbon Mitigation Credit program. […]

In a mistake that will cost their customers dearly, Ameren, the utility that serves most of Central and Southern Illinois, refused to join the Carbon Mitigation Credit program. As a result, their customers will see painful hikes in their electricity bills like consumers all over the Midwest.

*** UPDATE *** Ameren…

Ameren Illinois Statement on False Claims About Carbon Mitigation Credit Program

April 27, 2022

The statement issued today by the Clean Jobs Coalition is blatantly false. Ameren Illinois was never involved in the negotiations of the Carbon Mitigation Credit and was never given an option to opt in or out. In fact, throughout the process of negotiating the legislation, it was publicly stated by numerous CEJA members and supporters that the utilities would not be involved in crafting the new law.

This Carbon Mitigation Credit provision was written specifically to subsidize the Exelon nuclear facilities in Chicago, which are in a separate energy market from downstate. Again, the legislation specifically applies to “electric utilities serving at least 3,000,000 retail customers” in the state. Ameren Illinois has 1.2 million customers.

This policy was written specifically to benefit to Exelon nuclear plants in Chicago.