If you’ve opened your electric bill lately and felt your eyebrows crawl halfway off your forehead, you’re not imagining it — ComEd bills across Illinois are noticeably higher.
And no, it’s not because you “left a light on,” or “ran the dishwasher twice,” or because your teenager thinks electricity is a constitutional right.

The problem isn’t your usage.

The problem is delivery.

📌 The part of your bill that’s exploding isn’t energy… it’s the delivery

Most people assume electricity costs = the energy itself.
But that’s only about half of what you’re paying.

The other half is:

poles + wires + substations + “grid modernization” + a ComEd filing cabinet full of riders and fees

That delivery portion used to be ~6¢/kWh in late 2023.

Now in 2025, for most households in northern Illinois, it’s 7–8¢/kWh — a 25–35% jump.

That means you’re paying more before you even use a single watt of electricity.

✅ So what can regular Illinois homeowners actually DO about it?

There are really five buckets of options — some fast, some long-term, some free, some not.

1️⃣ No-cost options (you can literally do this today)

✅ ComEd Hourly Pricing (Real-Time Supply Rate)

You switch from a flat supply rate to wholesale market pricing.
This doesn’t fix delivery costs, but it can save 20–40% on the supply side.

Great for:

EV chargers
People home at night
Anyone who can run laundry/dishwasher off-peak
Households with a programmable thermostat

Not great for:

People blasting AC 24/7 in mid-afternoon summer
Anyone allergic to opening apps or graphs

Enrollment page: HourlyPricing.comEd.com

✅ Peak Time Savings

This is separate from Hourly Pricing. You get credits for using less power during peak windows.

It’s passive money — ComEd pays you for doing nothing.
Like a rebate for not cooking lasagna at 3pm in July.

✅ Community Solar (the non-rooftop kind)

This is NOT rooftop panels.
You subscribe to a solar farm + get bill credits (typically 15–25% off supply charges).

It does not reduce delivery charges, but it offsets everything else without installing anything.

Think of it as “solar for renters / shade trees / HOA drama / people who don’t want contractors on their roof.”

2️⃣ “Low equipment” options

✅ Smart thermostat tuning

Not to “save the planet,” but to dodge the time-of-use landmines.

Pre-cool or pre-heat when electricity is cheap.
Let the house coast when prices or peak periods hit.

It’s like couponing for electrons.

3️⃣ Rooftop solar — WHEN it makes sense

For some people, rooftop solar pencils out.
But the #1 misconception is thinking solar eliminates delivery.

It does not.

You still pay to be connected to ComEd’s grid, because ComEd charges delivery fees on access — not just consumption.

Solar offsets supply + part of taxes.

If someone told you solar would “eliminate the whole bill,” that person is either:
A) a salesperson
B) a very optimistic salesperson

Solar helps. It doesn’t erase delivery.

4️⃣ Solar + battery — when you want real bill control

This is the first time you start peeling off delivery costs, because you’re storing what you generate and self-consuming it later instead of buying through the grid.

Still connected? Yes.
Still pay something? Yes.
But you’re no longer held hostage to ComEd’s peak math.

5️⃣ Load shifting (smart appliances)

The supply market is now time-sensitive.
Running the EXACT SAME appliance at a different hour can cost half as much.

Dishwasher at 2pm = ComEd yacht fund
Dishwasher at 10pm = responsible citizen with “off-peak swagger”

✅ The biggest misconception to clear up in Illinois

“My bill went up because I used more power.”

No.
Your bill went up because ComEd raised the delivery rate.

Even if you froze your usage in time like a scientific experiment, the cost to move electricity to you would still have gone up.

So what’s the smartest approach for most Illinois households RIGHT NOW?

A simple 3-step fix that doesn’t require a solar roof and a TED talk:

Enroll in Hourly Pricing
(supply savings immediately — often 15–30%)
Add Peak Time Savings
(easy rebates for not spiking usage when ComEd is cranky)
Consider Community Solar if available
(offsets more supply without owning hardware)

This is stackable savings — you don’t pick only one.

And none of this touches your roof, your breaker panel, or your bank account.

The bottom line

ComEd bills are rising because the delivery side — the monopoly portion — is inflating.
You can’t shop delivery.
But you can shrink and offset everything else to fight it.

Think of it as:

“Since I can’t pay less to enter the stadium, I’ll at least stop buying the $14 hot dog.”

Hourly pricing = fewer $14 hot dogs
Peak Time Savings = sometimes ComEd pays you not to eat the hot dog
Community solar = someone else’s roof buys your hot dogs for you