News Stories

Excerpts from ORMD Staff’s Annual Competition Report:

“Statewide, the number of ARES certified by the ICC to serve retail customers has decreased over the last couple of years. Similarly, the number of customers being served by ARES decreased by 13.1% from 2024 to 2025. Further, the amount of electricity supplied by ARES also decreased. Table 1 summarizes the quantity of monthly ARES customers and their monthly usage by utility territory and customer class.”

• 201,459 non-residential customers on ARES supply, compared to 213,724 last year.
• 1.18 million residential customers on ARES supply, compared to 1.37 million last year.
• 4.29 billion kWh non-residential usage provided by ARES supply.
• 96 ARES certified in the state, compared to 101 last year.

Consumer Offers and Spending 

PlugIn.Illinois.gov is the ORMD’s consumer resource website dedicated to educating Illinoisans about the electric marketplace, including which products ARES currently offer. It is important to note that ARES are not statutorily required to list offers on the Plug In Illinois website; ARES participate based on internal business determinations. Accordingly, the list of offers is not comprehensive of all ARES offers within the State. At the end of May 2025, 48 unique residential offers were posted in the ComEd service territory while 16 unique residential offers were posted for the Ameren territory. A majority of these were fixed rate offers, lasting at least 12 months. 

Plug In Illinois also lists municipal aggregation program4 offerings. As of May 2025, 520 active municipal aggregation programs were posted in the ComEd and Ameren territories. The number of active aggregation programs decreased from 2024. During the reporting period, the average rate for a municipal aggregation program in the ComEd territory was 7.62 cents per kWh and 9.16 cents per kWh in the Ameren territory. 5 

• On average, residential ARES customers in the ComEd territory paid around $12.66 million more per month during the past twelve months when compared to the ComEd Price-to-Compare (PTC)6 and $14.30 million more per month during the last twelve months when compared to the ComEd PTC including the Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA). 7 In terms of cents per kWh, residential ARES customers in the ComEd territory paid about 2.46 cents/kWh more when compared to the ComEd PTC only, and about 2.74 cents/kWh more when including the PEA. [Emphasis added.]
• On average, residential ARES customers in the Ameren territory paid around $6.55 million more per month during the last twelve months when compared to the Ameren PTC and $7.21 million more per month during the last twelve months when compared to the Ameren PTC including the PEA. In terms of cents per kWh, residential ARES customers in the Ameren territory paid about 1.61 cents/kWh more when compared to the Ameren PTC and about 1.78 cents/kWh more when including the PEA.

1. Non-Residential Market 

Non-residential market activity is captured by looking at three different indicators: 

1. ARES-provided usage of non-residential customers over the previous twelve months and for each of the utility service territories; 
2. ARES use of Utility Consolidated Billing (UCB)/Purchase of Receivables (POR) for non-residential customers; and 
3. The competitiveness of each non-residential market. 
4. Non-Residential Customer Switching 

The percent of electric consumption by non-residential Illinois customers on ARES supply slightly decreased to 82% in 2025. After a jump from 75% in 2009 to 80% in 2011, the percent of the electric consumption provided by ARES to non-residential Illinois customers hovered between 84% and 85% from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, this decreased to 71%, however 2021 saw a return to 85% and the number has remained between 82% and 85% over the last four years.

ComEd Territory As of May 2025, ARES provided 81% of the total electric usage to ComEd non-residential customers, which is a decrease from last year. Table 9 breaks out the percent of usage provided by ARES for each nonresidential class by year. As shown in Figure 2, supply provided to nonresidential customers in the small, medium, and large categories has been relatively steady in the ComEd territory since 2018.

Ameren Territory As of May 2025, ARES provided 86% of the total non-residential electric usage, decreasing from 2024. Table 10 breaks out the percent of usage provided by ARES for each nonresidential class by year. Figure 3 shows the electric usage provided by ARES to the various non-residential customer classes for the past eight years. 

Residential Customer Switching 

1. ComEd Territory

The number of residential customers receiving supply from an ARES has decreased year-over-year in the ComEd territory since May 2014. Over the last several years, the number of residential customers receiving their supply from an ARES has fluctuated. As of the end of May 2025, approximately 1.18 million residential customers were on ARES service, compared to roughly 1.37 million customers in 2024 and over 3 million customers nine years ago. Table 12 shows the number, as well as the percentage, of residential customers receiving supply from an ARES.

The ComEd territory has seen a consistent decline in the number of residential ARES customers from the peak in 2014. At that time, more than 2.4 million residential customers, or 70% of the total residential customers in the ComEd territory, received electric service from an ARES. As of May 2025, ARES residential customers in the ComEd territory comprise only 20% of the total ComEd residential market – including both non-aggregation and aggregation customers.

Ameren Territory

The Ameren territory has seen an overall decrease in residential customers on ARES supply over the last two years. As of May 2025, about 43% of residential customers in the Ameren territory were on ARES supply compared to 53% the previous year.

Municipal/Government Aggregation 

Effective January 1, 2010, Public Act 96-0176 amended the Illinois Power Agency Act (“IPA Act”) to allow municipalities and counties to adopt an ordinance under which they may aggregate electrical load. It specifically allows municipal corporate authorities or county boards to do this for residential and small non-residential retail electrical loads located within their jurisdiction and solicit bids to enter service agreements for the sale and purchase of electricity and related services and equipment. 

The law requires the corporate authorities of a municipality, township, or county board to submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program for residential and small non-residential customers prior to the adoption of an ordinance for the aggregation of these loads. 

Statewide a total of 751 communities have passed referendums approving aggregation programs. Some communities that implemented aggregation programs from 2011 to 2014 have seen their initial contracts expire. Several of them renewed with the incumbent supplier, others have continued with the aggregation but with a different ARES, and some chose to not continue their aggregation program. Table 13 provides a status of municipal aggregation programs, by utility service territory, as of May 2025.

As of May 2025, 261 of the 751 communities (about 35%) that implemented municipal aggregation programs allowed their aggregation programs to end. Table 13 lists the number of communities with active or expired programs. Additionally, a simple average rate of the active aggregation programs, as of May 2025, was calculated. The snapshot of the average municipal aggregation rate is composed of a wide range of programs, including ones that are near the end of a two- or three-year term and recently implemented or renewed programs.

ORMD Annual Report  (07/28/2025)