news7 min read

ComEd Rate Increase 2026: 10.399¢/kWh Through Sept 30 — What Changes Oct 1

Ryan Cook•March 18, 2026•Updated Sep 18, 2026

My phone has been ringing a lot more lately. The calls are all some version of the same conversation: "Ryan, my electric bill was insane this summer. What's coming next?"

I wish I had better news.

Update (June 9, 2026): The new rate is now official. ComEd's summer Price to Compare is 10.399¢/kWh (8.677¢ supply + 1.722¢ transmission), effective June 1 through September 30, per ICC Plug In Illinois data — up from roughly 9.66¢ this past winter. The numbers below have been updated to reflect the published rate.

What changed, and what changes October 1

Updated September 2, 2026.

What changed on June 1: ComEd's summer Price to Compare reset to 10.399¢/kWh (8.677¢ electric supply + 1.722¢ transmission). That is the supply half of your bill, and it's the part that absorbed the record PJM capacity auction. It applies to every kilowatt-hour on bills dated June 1 through September 30, 2026.

What expires September 30: The summer supply rate. ComEd's Price to Compare is seasonal, so the 10.399¢ figure ends with the September billing period.

What resets October 1: A new non-summer Price to Compare takes effect for October 2026 through May 2027. ComEd files that figure with the ICC shortly before it kicks in, and I'll post the exact number here the day it's published — I'm not going to guess at it. What I can say is the direction: the capacity costs that drove this summer's rate are locked in through May 2027, so don't plan around a big drop. For the mechanics of why an October supply decrease doesn't move your total bill nearly as much as people expect, read what actually changes on October 1.

What doesn't reset at all: Delivery. The Illinois Commerce Commission approved ComEd's multi-year delivery plan (roughly $606 million across 2024–2027) and a separate $243 million reconciliation increase that hit bills in January 2026. Those are rate-case decisions, not seasonal rates — they stay on your bill in October and beyond, and they're the reason an alternative supplier can only ever touch part of what you pay.

Your all-in cost per kWh right now, worked out: Take a Chicagoland home using 1,000 kWh in a summer month. Supply at 10.399¢ is about $104. Per-kWh delivery — the 6.333¢ Distribution Facilities Charge plus the 0.128¢ Illinois Electricity Distribution Tax charge, in effect beginning with April 2026 bills — adds about $65. The fixed customer ($15.50) and meter ($3.87) charges add $19.37 before you use anything. That's approximately $188 for the month, before taxes and small riders — call it roughly 17¢ per kWh on the energy charges alone and close to 19¢ per kWh once the fixed charges are spread across your usage. Note that ComEd's residential delivery rate has no summer/winter split; it's the same per-kWh figure year-round. The line-by-line version, plus the rate history since 2019, lives on our current ComEd rates page.

Another Record PJM Capacity Auction

The capacity auction for June 2026 through May 2027 cleared at $329.17 per MW-day in July 2025. That's another record — 22% higher than last year's already-historic price. For context, two years ago this same auction cleared at about $29/MW-day. We're now at 11x that level.

PJM is the grid operator for northern Illinois (ComEd territory). When their capacity costs go up, your bill goes up. There's no buffer. These costs flow directly into what you pay per kilowatt-hour.

The Citizens Utility Board is already warning consumers that ComEd prices will remain elevated "for at least the next few years." The Illinois Attorney General called for a new auction entirely to try to prevent these drastic increases. That tells you how serious this is.

What's Driving This

Two forces are colliding, and neither is going away.

Power plants are retiring faster than they're being replaced. PJM has decommissioned more generation capacity than it's built. Coal plants are shutting down. The reserve margins that keep the grid stable are shrinking. Less supply + same demand = higher prices. That's basic economics.

Data centers are eating the grid. This is the one my customers keep bringing up, and they're right to be concerned. PJM projects that data center demand will consume 13% of grid capacity by 2035. AI, crypto mining, cloud computing — they all need massive amounts of electricity, and they're all building in PJM territory. That demand drives up the capacity auction price, which drives up your bill.

One customer in Fairview Heights told me recently that he just expects the price to keep going up with no end in sight. I couldn't argue with him.

What This Means for Your Bill

ComEd's all-in residential rate is currently about 17¢/kWh. That's already up 90% from five years ago when it was around 9¢/kWh.

The new capacity costs hit on June 1, 2026. The official summer Price to Compare is now 10.399¢/kWh — 8.677¢ supply plus 1.722¢ transmission — up from roughly 9.66¢ this past winter. Delivery adds roughly another 6.46¢/kWh on top (6.333¢ Distribution Facilities Charge plus 0.128¢ distribution tax, beginning with April 2026 bills). CUB estimates the elevated capacity costs could persist through at least 2028.

Here's what that looks like over time for a household using 1,000 kWh/month:

Year	Approximate Rate	Monthly Bill
2021	~9¢/kWh	~$90
2024	~12.5¢/kWh	~$125
2026 (now)	~17¢/kWh	~$170
2027 (projected)	~19¢/kWh	~$190
2030 (projected)	~23¢+/kWh	~$230+

Those projections assume 6% annual increases, which is actually conservative given what we've seen.

What You Can Do About It

I'm not going to pretend there's a magic fix. But there is a straightforward one.

A solar lease gives you a rate as low as $0.10/kWh, predictable for 25 years — the full schedule is set in your contract before you sign. No capacity auction surprises. No June rate spikes. While ComEd climbs to 20¢, 25¢, and beyond, your rate stays predictable.

For a Chicago household paying $187/month to ComEd, that's an estimated $1,100+ in year-one electricity savings alone. Aurora, Joliet, Rockford — the math works across the board because ComEd's rate is so high.

After the 25-year lease, you can buy the system at fair market value — typically very affordable at that point — and then your electricity cost drops to near-zero for the remaining life of the panels.

If you want the honest, numbers-first version of that decision before you call anyone, I wrote it up separately: are solar panels worth it in Illinois at these rates.

Solar installation on an Illinois home

The Rate Is Here — Now What

The spike isn't coming anymore — it's on your bill right now, and it runs through September 30. If you're a ComEd customer who's been thinking about solar, every summer month you wait is a month at the new rate. The process takes 6-12 weeks from consultation to activation, so starting now means your system can be running well before the next June reset — and with capacity markets still tight, nobody covering the market expects that reset to go down.

I'm not trying to create artificial urgency. The urgency is real — it's published in the ICC's rate data and confirmed by CUB, the Attorney General, and every utility analyst covering the market.

Check what the numbers look like for your city — every one of our 1,100+ ComEd city pages has local data specific to your area. Or use our Solar Savings Calculator to see estimated year-by-year projections.

Or just call me at (618) 217-2001. I'll pull up your city's numbers and walk you through it. 15 minutes, no obligation.

Sources

ComEd Price to Compare — Official June 2026 Rate — ICC Plug In Illinois
PJM 2026/2027 Capacity Auction Results — Enel North America
PJM Capacity Prices Set Another Record — Utility Dive
CUB: PJM Auction Threatens Higher ComEd Bills — Citizens Utility Board
IL Attorney General Calls for New Auction — IL Attorney General
ComEd Bills and AI Data Centers — Chicago Sun-Times
CUB Power-Bill Guide: 2026 Rates — Citizens Utility Board

Frequently Asked Questions

ComEd is raising rates in June 2026 because the PJM 2026-2027 capacity auction cleared at $329.17/MW-day — a record price roughly 11 times higher than two years ago when the same auction cleared at about $29/MW-day. PJM is the regional grid operator for northern Illinois, and capacity auction costs flow directly into the supply portion of ComEd residential bills at the June annual reset. The Citizens Utility Board has warned that these elevated prices will persist through at least 2028. Contributing factors include accelerating power plant retirements outpacing new generation, plus surging data center demand in PJM territory that PJM itself projects will consume 13% of grid capacity by 2035. The Illinois Attorney General has formally called for a new auction to prevent these drastic increases.

The ComEd June 2026 rate is now official: the summer Price to Compare is 10.399¢/kWh (8.677¢ supply plus 1.722¢ transmission), effective June 1 through September 30, 2026, per ICC Plug In Illinois data — up from roughly 9.66¢ this past winter. The increase traces to the PJM capacity auction result of $329.17/MW-day, up 22% from last year's already-record price. For a Chicagoland household using 1,000 kWh per month, the combined impact could push monthly bills from roughly $170 in early 2026 toward $190 or higher by 2027. ComEd's all-in residential rate runs approximately 17¢/kWh, already up 90% from approximately 9¢/kWh in 2021. CUB projects elevated capacity costs will continue driving rates upward through at least 2028, with 6% annual increases being a conservative baseline projection given recent history.

The PJM capacity auction is an annual wholesale market mechanism where power generators bid to guarantee they can supply electricity to the grid during peak demand periods. PJM is the regional transmission organization covering 13 states including northern Illinois (ComEd territory). The clearing price — the price at which enough capacity is secured — flows directly into the supply rate on ComEd residential bills without any buffer. Two years ago the auction cleared at $29/MW-day; the 2026-2027 auction cleared at $329.17/MW-day, which is why ComEd bills have spiked. PJM's Independent Market Monitor attributed 70% of the recent capacity cost increase — about $9.3 billion — to surging data center demand. When PJM's auction clears higher, every ComEd customer's bill increases proportionally at the next June reset.

ComEd's supply rate changes take effect each year on June 1, when the new PJM capacity year begins. This means the June 2026-2027 capacity price of $329.17/MW-day hits ComEd residential bills starting with the June 2026 billing cycle. Most customers will see the impact on their July or August 2026 statement depending on their meter read date. The $13/month IRA rate-relief credit that reduced 2025 bills also expired on May 31, 2026, right before the June 1 rate reset, so customers effectively got hit twice: the new higher capacity rate plus the loss of the offsetting credit. ComEd's delivery rate, which is separate from supply, already increased in January 2026 following the Illinois Commerce Commission's approval of a $243 million delivery rate hike. Both charges appear on your monthly statement.

ComEd customers have limited options to fully avoid the June 2026 rate increase because delivery charges and the supply default rate apply automatically. The most effective strategy is getting a predictable-rate 25-year solar lease as low as 10¢/kWh — compared to ComEd's 17¢/kWh and rising — which removes you from the capacity auction cycle entirely. For households not ready for solar, alternatives include enrolling with an alternative retail electric supplier offering a fixed-term fixed-rate contract through Plug In Illinois, applying for ComEd's Residential Real-Time Pricing program (useful for load-shifters), or qualifying for Illinois Solar for All if household income is at or below 80% of Area Median Income. A solar lease signed this fall typically activates within 6-12 weeks, so your rate schedule is set well before the next June 1 reset.

Yes, ComEd rates are projected to keep rising through at least 2028 based on current market forecasts and regulatory filings. The Illinois Power Agency has flagged capacity shortfalls beginning in 2029 for northern Illinois, which typically correlates with sustained upward pressure on wholesale capacity prices. PJM projects data center electricity demand will reach 13% of grid capacity by 2035, continuing to drive capacity auction clearing prices higher. Power plant retirements in PJM territory continue to outpace new generation coming online, keeping reserve margins tight. A reasonable projection for a 1,000 kWh/month ComEd household is approximately $190/month by 2027 and $230+/month by 2030 assuming 6% annual rate escalation, which is actually conservative given recent increases. Solar lease rates, by contrast, are predictable for 25 years, with the full schedule set in your contract before you sign.