Illinois Electricity Rates Have Nearly Doubled Since 2021 — Here's What That Means for Your Bill
I've been in the solar business in Illinois since 2021. Back then, Ameren was charging around 8¢/kWh all-in. ComEd was similar. A typical household electric bill was $80-$100/month.
That world is gone.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Ameren Illinois residential rates hit 15.5¢/kWh in 2026. ComEd is even worse at 17.07¢/kWh. That's roughly a 90% increase in five years.
For a household using 1,000 kWh/month — which is pretty typical for a 3-bedroom home in central Illinois — that's the difference between a $95 monthly bill and a $170 monthly bill. An extra $900 a year that just... vanished from your budget.
What's Driving This?
Two big things hit at the same time, and neither one is going away.
The capacity crisis. MISO, which manages the power grid for Ameren territory, saw their capacity auction clear at $666.50/MW-day in 2025. That's a 22x increase from $30/MW-day the year before. Why? Coal plants are retiring faster than new generation is coming online. Reserve margins collapsed from 6.5 GW to 2.6 GW. Those costs flow directly into your bill.
On the ComEd side, PJM's capacity auction hit a record $333.44/MW-day. ComEd's supply rate jumped 47% in a single year.
Infrastructure costs. Both utilities are spending billions on grid upgrades — and recovering every dollar through your delivery charges. Ameren got a $308.6 million rate increase approved by the ICC, plus an additional $48.4 million reconciliation charge. ComEd got $606 million in delivery rate increases.
What's Coming Next
I wish I could tell you it's leveling off. I can't.
Conservative estimates project 6% annual increases going forward. That means if you're paying $170/month today, you could be looking at $230/month by 2030. That's not a worst-case scenario — that's the baseline.
The underlying drivers aren't temporary. Coal retirements will continue. Grid modernization will continue. Data center demand (which PJM projects will consume 13% of grid capacity by 2035) will continue. Every one of those factors pushes rates higher.
What I Tell My Customers
When someone calls me about solar, the first thing I ask is: "What's your monthly electric bill?" If it's over $120, the math almost always works.
A solar lease locks your electricity rate at approximately $0.10/kWh for 15 years. No escalator. That's less than what you're paying Ameren or ComEd today — and the gap gets wider every single year as utility rates keep climbing.
For a household in Belleville paying $128/month to Ameren, that's an estimated $700 in year-one savings on electricity alone. In Naperville, where ComEd bills average $240/month, estimated first-year savings are over $1,400.
The battery backup is a separate conversation — it's a home upgrade, not an electricity cost. But the power-only savings are real and they start from day one.
The Window Is Closing
Here's what concerns me: Illinois still has some of the best solar incentives in the country. The Illinois Shines REC program pays cash/finance buyers an estimated lump sum within 18 months of installation. The $300/kW DG rebate is still available. Property taxes don't increase. And for income-eligible families, Solar for All provides solar at no cost with guaranteed savings on your electricity bill.
But REC prices dropped 10% this program year. The federal residential tax credit expired in December 2025. These programs won't last forever at current levels.
I'm not trying to create urgency where there isn't any. The urgency already exists — it's on your electric bill. Every month you wait is another month paying rates that are 90% higher than they were five years ago.
What You Can Do
If you're curious what the numbers look like for your specific situation:
- Solar Savings Calculator — See estimated year-by-year savings based on your actual bill
- REC Calculator — Estimate your Illinois Shines REC value
- Check Your Roof — Free satellite analysis of your roof's solar potential
Or just call me at (618) 217-2001. I'll pull up your city's data and walk you through the options in about 15 minutes. No pressure, no obligation — just real numbers for your situation.
