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Ameren's Winter Electric Rate Is Up 24% From Last Year: October 2026 Prices Are 10.441¢ (Ameren) and 10.103¢ (ComEd)
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Ameren's Winter Electric Rate Is Up 24% From Last Year: October 2026 Prices Are 10.441¢ (Ameren) and 10.103¢ (ComEd)

Ryan Cook••

Ameren Illinois' electricity price drops on October 1, 2026, but it's still up about 24% from last winter. The new Price to Compare is 10.441¢ per kWh on the first 800 kWh and 8.262¢ above 800, in effect through May 2027. Last winter's was 8.402¢. ComEd's new price is 10.103¢ per kWh, down from this summer's 10.399¢ and about 4% above last winter's 9.689¢. Both figures are posted on Plug In Illinois, the Illinois Commerce Commission's official price-to-compare site.

The seasonal drop is real, and so is the year-over-year jump. You'll see both on your November bill.

Key facts: Illinois electric supply prices, October 2026

Line Figure In effect
Ameren Illinois Price to Compare, new 10.441¢/kWh first 800 kWh; 8.262¢ above 800 Oct 2026 – May 2027
Ameren, how it's built 7.310¢ energy + 0.313¢ Supply Cost Adjustment + 0.053¢ Rider EUA + 2.765¢ transmission October 2026 rate sheet
Ameren, summer price ending 11.326¢/kWh June 1 – Sept 30, 2026
Ameren, last winter 8.402¢ first 800 / 7.483¢ above (Oct – Dec 2025); 8.769¢ / 7.850¢ (Jan – May 2026) 2025 – 26
ComEd Price to Compare, new 10.103¢/kWh Oct 2026 – May 2027
ComEd, how it's built 8.413¢ electric supply + 1.69¢ transmission Transmission changes January 2027
ComEd, summer price ending 10.399¢/kWh June 1 – Sept 30, 2026
ComEd, last winter 9.689¢ (Oct – Dec 2025); 9.660¢ (Jan – May 2026) 2025 – 26

The Price to Compare is the supply half of the bill: the electricity itself plus the transmission charge. Delivery, fixed monthly charges and taxes come on top of it.

What it costs by usage

This table shows supply cost only, at last winter's October price versus this October's. I use supply here because it's the piece that changed; delivery charges shifted separately in January.

Monthly usage Ameren, Oct 2025 Ameren, Oct 2026 Change ComEd, Oct 2025 ComEd, Oct 2026 Change
500 kWh $42.01 $52.21 +$10.20 $48.45 $50.52 +$2.07
800 kWh $67.22 $83.53 +$16.31 $77.51 $80.82 +$3.31
1,000 kWh $82.18 $100.05 +$17.87 $96.89 $101.03 +$4.14
1,500 kWh $119.60 $141.36 +$21.77 $145.34 $151.55 +$6.21

A typical Ameren home using around 900 kWh a month from October through May pays an estimated $120 more in supply this winter than last, counting last winter's January step up to 8.769¢. A ComEd home at the same usage pays about $30 more. The difference comes down to one number. Ameren's first-tier price jumped more than two cents. ComEd's moved less than half a cent.

Ten Octobers of Illinois supply prices

Here's how the new prices compare with every October in the ICC's historical table.

October of Ameren (first 800 kWh) ComEd
2017 6.167¢ 7.149¢
2018 5.038¢ 7.292¢
2019 4.715¢ 7.224¢
2020 4.542¢ 7.067¢
2021 5.407¢ 7.777¢
2022 12.236¢ 9.765¢
2023 8.107¢ 6.872¢
2024 8.090¢ 6.612¢
2025 8.402¢ 9.689¢
2026 10.441¢ 10.103¢

For Ameren, this is the most expensive winter since the 2022 energy spike, and about 2.3 times what the same electricity cost in October 2020. For ComEd, 10.103¢ is higher than every non-summer price in the ICC table, which goes back to January 2017.

I'd call that the real story of this October. The seasonal cut still happens, but it now starts from a much higher base. I've covered why that base keeps rising in how MISO capacity costs push Ameren bills up and what data center demand does to Illinois power prices. Neither pressure eases in winter.

Your October bill will still drop, just not the way the headline suggests

On Ameren, the bigger October relief comes from delivery, not supply. Ameren's distribution charge has a seasonal schedule. It falls from 7.811¢ per kWh in summer to 4.572¢ on the first 800 kWh and 2.427¢ above that. Put the new supply price together with the winter delivery schedule and roughly $14.51 in monthly customer and meter charges, and a 1,000 kWh Ameren month comes to an estimated $156 before taxes, compared with about $206 for the same usage in August. On 700 kWh it's about $120.

ComEd doesn't have a seasonal delivery rate. At 1,000 kWh, a ComEd bill goes from an estimated $188 in summer to about $185 in October, before taxes. That's a $3 drop. Most of any real decrease on a ComEd bill this fall will come from running the air conditioner less.

I walk through every line of those estimates in the average Illinois electric bill in 2026. If you want the background on how this summer's rates were set, the October rate preview from July walks through it.

Two things that can still move the number

January. Both Prices to Compare include a transmission charge, and that charge usually resets once a year. ComEd's is scheduled to change in January 2027. Last winter Ameren's price rose from 8.402¢ to 8.769¢ in January, and ComEd's slipped from 9.689¢ to 9.660¢. Expect a small move either way. Don't expect a big one.

The monthly adjustment. Both utilities add a Purchased Electricity Adjustment to your supply line, and the ICC leaves it out of the Price to Compare. It trues up what the utility paid for power against what it collected. On ComEd, it ran as a credit last fall: minus 1.469¢ in October 2025 and minus 1.721¢ in November. Nobody can promise that repeats. It's the reason your bill's supply line may not match 10.103¢.

Check your supplier and aggregation rate now

This is the one thing I'd actually do this fall. Pull your last bill and find the supply rate. If a supplier or your town's aggregation program is on that line, compare its price with 10.441¢ on Ameren or 10.103¢ on ComEd.

A lot of deals signed during the expensive summer now cost more than the utility. In Bartonville, the village's Homefield Energy program charges 13.29¢ per kWh through June 2027. The village's own comparison puts a 1,000 kWh month at $132.90 in supply, versus $100.05 at Ameren's new price. Peoria's aggregation carries the same 13.29¢, which I dug into in why Peoria bills keep rising. My read, after digging into how alternative suppliers overcharge Illinois homes, is that the utility is usually the safer bet.

What this means if you're thinking about solar

A price that's 24% higher in the season when solar produces the least is worth thinking through carefully. Panels in Illinois make a lot less power in December than at the late-summer peak, about 45% less by my numbers in the month-by-month production curve. So a winter supply price can't carry a solar decision by itself.

What it does show is the trend. Ameren's winter price has gone from 4.5¢ to 10.4¢ in six years, with a lot of movement in between. A $0-down lease replaces that swing with a predictable rate as low as $0.10 per kWh. Your full 25-year rate schedule is set in the contract before you sign. Whether that comes out ahead of the utility for your house is an estimate that depends on your roof, your usage and your territory. The lease vs. buy comparison lays out the tradeoffs. Income-qualified households should look at Illinois Solar for All first.

Current figures for both utilities stay updated on the Ameren rates and ComEd rates pages. To see your own numbers, run a bill through the savings calculator or call me at (618) 217-2001. I'll go through every line with you.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Ameren Illinois' Price to Compare is 10.441 cents per kWh on the first 800 kWh each month and 8.262 cents per kWh on usage above 800 kWh, effective October 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027. The state's Plug In Illinois site, run by the Illinois Commerce Commission, lists both figures, and they match Ameren's own October rate sheet: a 7.310 cent energy charge on the first 800 kWh, plus 0.313 cents and 0.053 cents in supply adjustments, plus the 2.765 cent transmission charge. That is down from the summer price of 11.326 cents, which ends September 30. It is also up about 24 percent from last winter, when Ameren's price was 8.402 cents on the first 800 kWh from October through December 2025. Your bill adds delivery charges, fixed monthly charges and taxes on top, so the Price to Compare is the supply piece only.
ComEd's Price to Compare is 10.103 cents per kWh from October 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission's Plug In Illinois site: 8.413 cents for electric supply plus 1.69 cents for transmission. That replaces the summer price of 10.399 cents, a cut of about 3 percent. Compared with last winter, it is about 4 percent higher: ComEd charged 9.689 cents from October through December 2025 and 9.660 cents from January through May 2026, per the Illinois Commerce Commission's historical table. Two things can move what you actually pay. ComEd bills carry a monthly Purchased Electricity Adjustment that is not part of the Price to Compare and has run as a credit in recent autumns, including minus 1.469 cents in October 2025. And the transmission piece usually changes in January. On 1,000 kWh a month, the new price works out to about $101 in supply before delivery, fixed charges and taxes.
Mostly because the supply price is higher. Ameren's winter price on the first 800 kWh went from 8.402 cents in October 2025 to 10.441 cents in October 2026, a 24 percent increase, and the rate above 800 kWh went from 7.483 cents to 8.262 cents, about 10 percent. At 800 kWh a month that is roughly $16 more in supply every month, and at 1,000 kWh about $18 more, before taxes. Over an eight-month winter at 900 kWh, the difference adds up to an estimated $120, counting last winter's January step up to 8.769 cents. This is the highest winter supply price Ameren has charged since the 2022 to 2023 winter, when it hit 12.236 cents, and it is about 2.3 times the 4.542 cents Ameren charged in October 2020. Supply prices are set from wholesale power and capacity purchases, and capacity costs in the MISO market that serves Ameren territory have climbed sharply since 2024.
Compare your rate against the new Price to Compare before you decide anything. For Ameren customers, that number is 10.441 cents on the first 800 kWh; for ComEd, 10.103 cents. Many aggregation deals signed during the high-price summer now cost more than the utility. Bartonville's program through Homefield Energy, for example, charges 13.29 cents per kWh from August 2026 through June 2027. At 1,000 kWh that runs about $132.90 a month in supply versus $100.05 at Ameren's new price, a gap of roughly $33, according to the village's own comparison. Before you leave, ask the supplier about any exit fee and the effective date, and check whether returning to the utility limits how soon you can rejoin a supplier. The state's official comparison site, plugin.illinois.gov, lists current supplier offers and aggregation deals so you can check yours against the utility price.

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