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Nicor Gas Rate Settlement Approved: The $15 Customer Charge Starts Nov. 16, but Winter Bills Still Rise
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Nicor Gas Rate Settlement Approved: The $15 Customer Charge Starts Nov. 16, but Winter Bills Still Rise

Ryan Cook•

The average Nicor Gas home will pay about $2.21 a month more. The Illinois Commerce Commission approved a settlement on October 15, 2026 that strikes $139.2 million, roughly 63%, from Nicor's $221 million rate request, leaving an increase of about $82 million. The bigger change for your bill is how the money gets collected. The fixed monthly customer charge falls from $21.30 to $15.00 on November 16, and the rest moves onto the part of the bill you pay per therm. Summer bills go down. Winter bills go up by more than the $2.21 headline for most houses that heat with gas.

Nicor delivers gas to 2.3 million customers across northern Illinois. I sell solar here, and the gas bill is the one people hand me from now until March. So here's what got approved, what it means for a July bill versus a January bill, and the one number Nicor hasn't published yet.

Key facts: the Nicor Gas settlement

Item Figure Source / date
Decision Settlement approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, Docket No. 26-0099 ICC, Oct 15, 2026
Requested increase About $221 million (14.5% over current rates) ICC; Illinois Attorney General
Amount cut $139.2 million, about 63% ICC, Oct 15, 2026
Approved increase About $82 million ($221M minus $139.2M; CUB, a party to the case, puts it at $81.6M) ICC figures, my arithmetic
Average residential impact About $2.21 a month, 2.49% of the total annual bill Nicor Gas, rate request page
Monthly customer charge $21.30 now → $15.00 ICC; starts Nov 16 per Attorney General and CUB
Distribution charge now 24.44¢ per therm; new figure not yet posted Nicor Rate 1, effective Sept 28, 2026
Return on equity 9.48%, down from the 10.35% Nicor requested ICC, Oct 15, 2026
Customers served 2.3 million across northern Illinois ICC, Oct 15, 2026

What the Commission approved

Nicor filed in January for about $221 million. The Attorney General's office, the Citizens Utility Board and the other parties reached a settlement, and on October 15 the Commission accepted it. In the ICC's words, the decision cuts "Nicor's initial $221 million requested increase by roughly 63 percent and approves a 9.48 percent return on equity," down from the 10.35% Nicor asked for.

Nicor also agreed to drop its appeal of last year's rate case. That 2025 order approved a $168 million increase, or 12.1%, according to the Attorney General's office.

Nicor had estimated its original request at less than $6 a month for a typical home. The settlement lands at about $2.21. That's a real cut. CUB still points out this is Nicor's sixth delivery increase since 2017, adding up to about 150%. Both things are true.

The $15 charge is the part that changes your bill

There are two delivery numbers on a Nicor residential bill. One is the customer charge, the flat amount you pay even in a month you burn nothing. The other is the distribution charge, a price per therm. (Gas supply is a third line, and it moves every month on its own.)

The settlement cuts the flat one by $6.30 a month. The total still goes up. So the per-therm charge has to rise by enough to cover the $6.30 cut and the new increase.

You can work out the size of that shift from Nicor's two published numbers:

  • Average home, net: +$2.21 a month (+$26.52 a year)
  • Customer charge: −$6.30 a month (−$75.60 a year)
  • Usage-based delivery charges, average home: about +$8.51 a month, or about $102 a year

Nicor's two figures also tell you how big the average bill is. If $26.52 a year is 2.49% of it, the average Nicor residential bill runs about $1,065 a year, roughly $89 a month. That's my arithmetic, not a number Nicor printed.

July vs. January

Gas use swings hard by season. The federal Energy Information Administration's average Midwest gas-heated home burns about 612 therms from November through March alone, and far less in summer. The flat $6.30 cut is the same every month, but the per-therm increase follows your usage. That's why the Attorney General's office says most Nicor customers will see a monthly bill decrease during non-heat months.

Here's my estimate of how a single month changes, depending on how that month's gas use compares to the average Nicor home's monthly use. It assumes the whole increase lands on the per-therm distribution charge, and it leaves out taxes and supply prices.

A month using… Estimated change vs. today's rates
A quarter of the average month (summer) about −$4.17
Half the average month about −$2.04
The average month about +$2.21
Twice the average month about +$10.72
Three times the average month (deep winter) about +$19.23

My take: if you're on budget billing, you'll barely notice this month to month. If you're not, December through February is where you'll see it. Pair that with supply prices, which often climb into the coldest weeks, and a January Nicor bill can be noticeably higher than the headline suggests.

Who comes out ahead

Over a full year, the line falls at about three-quarters of the average customer's gas use. Below that, the $75.60 saved on the customer charge beats the higher per-therm cost. Above it, you pay more. All of these are my estimates, built from Nicor's figures:

  • A condo or small home with just a gas stove and water heater, using about a quarter of the average: roughly $50 a year less
  • Half the average: roughly $25 a year less
  • The average home: about $26.52 a year more
  • One and a half times the average, like a large older house: roughly $78 a year more
  • Double the average: roughly $129 a year more

To run your own, add up your last 12 months of therms from your bills. Once Nicor posts the new distribution charge, multiply the per-therm increase by those therms and subtract $75.60. That's your number.

Peoples Gas is next

If you're in Chicago, your gas utility is Peoples Gas, not Nicor, and its case is still open. Peoples cut its request from $202 million to $144 million on July 14, 2026, and put the typical impact at about $7 to $8 a month. The company says a Commission decision "is expected by December." I covered both cases, and what EIA expects this winter, in the Illinois winter heating bill forecast.

If this winter's bill is going to be tight

What this means for a heat pump in Nicor territory

A heat pump saves the most when it lets you close the gas account, because the customer charge disappears. At $15, that's $180 a year instead of $255.60, so that part of the switch is worth about $75.60 a year less. Every therm you keep burning gets pricier, though, so the two changes partly cancel.

In my September comparison, Nicor territory was already where a heat pump had the thinnest edge over gas on running cost. Nicor's 24.44¢ distribution charge is about half of Peoples Gas's and Ameren's. I'll rerun the heat pump vs. gas furnace numbers when the new rate posts. For homes on propane, the answer is much clearer, and it's in heat pump vs. propane costs.

Where solar fits

Solar panels don't touch a gas bill. If your furnace burns gas, this settlement is your winter, and panels on the roof don't change that.

What solar does change is the other utility bill on the counter, the ComEd or Ameren one. A $0-down lease bills the power your panels make at a predictable rate as low as $0.10 per kWh, with a battery included and the full 25-year rate schedule set in your contract before you sign.

Want me to look at both bills? Send me your last Nicor bill and your last ComEd or Ameren bill. I'll show you what you pay per therm and per kWh, and which line is rising faster. Call (618) 217-2001, run your numbers through the savings calculator, or get in touch here.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

The average Nicor Gas residential customer will pay about $2.21 a month more, according to Nicor, or 2.49 percent of the total annual bill. That works out to about $26.52 a year. The Illinois Commerce Commission approved the settlement on October 15, 2026, striking $139.2 million, roughly 63 percent, from Nicor's $221 million request. Nicor had estimated its original request at less than $6 a month. Your own change depends on how much gas you burn, because the settlement also cuts the fixed monthly customer charge from $21.30 to $15.00. That $6.30 savings is the same for every home, while the rest of the increase comes through usage-based charges. My estimate from Nicor's own figures: homes that use well under the average come out about even or ahead over a year, and big winter users pay more than the $2.21 average. These are estimates, not a bill quote.
The lower customer charge starts November 16, 2026. The Illinois Attorney General's office and the Citizens Utility Board both say the fixed monthly charge goes from $21.30 to $15.00 beginning Nov. 16, and the Illinois Commerce Commission's October 15 press release confirms the $15.00 figure. As of October 17, Nicor's posted Rate 1 tariff still shows the current $21.30 customer charge and a distribution charge of 24.44 cents per therm, effective September 28, 2026. Nicor hasn't posted the new per-therm distribution charge yet, so the number that matters most for heating season isn't public. Expect a revised Rate 1 sheet to replace the current one before the change takes effect, and look for the new rates on bills that cover service after November 16. Gas supply prices are separate from all of this and keep changing every month, so they can push a winter bill up or down on their own.
Because the settlement moves cost off the fixed charge and onto the charge you pay per therm, and you burn the most therms in winter. Nicor's numbers say the average home still pays $2.21 a month more even after the customer charge falls $6.30. Put those together and the usage-based part of the average bill rises about $8.51 a month, or about $102 a year, spread across every therm. In July, when a typical house barely uses gas, the $6.30 cut is bigger than the extra usage charges, which is why the Attorney General's office says most customers will see lower bills in non-heat months. In January the math flips. My estimate: a month using twice the average home's monthly gas comes out about $10.72 higher, and a month at three times that average about $19.23 higher, before taxes. Supply prices move separately every month.
Light gas users come out ahead, and heavy winter heaters pay more. If the whole increase lands on the per-therm delivery charge, my estimate from Nicor's figures is that a home using less than about three-quarters of the average residential customer's yearly gas comes out even or ahead. Below that line, the $75.60 a year saved on the customer charge outweighs the higher per-therm cost. A home using a quarter of the average, like a condo with only a gas stove and water heater, would save roughly $50 a year. A home using one and a half times the average would pay roughly $78 a year more, and a home at double the average about $129 more. Nicor hasn't published the new per-therm charge, so treat these as estimates. Once the revised Rate 1 sheet posts, you can check your own yearly therms, added up from your last 12 bills, against it.
Yes, in two directions that partly cancel out. A heat pump saves the most when it lets you close the gas account entirely, because then the fixed customer charge goes away. On Nicor, that charge drops from $21.30 to $15.00 on November 16, so closing the account avoids about $180 a year instead of $255.60. That makes that piece of the switch about $75.60 a year less valuable. At the same time, every therm you keep burning will cost more once the new distribution charge takes effect, which makes staying on gas heat a little pricier. Nicor's current per-therm delivery charge of 24.44 cents is already far below Peoples Gas at about 46.6 cents and Ameren at about 48.3 cents, and in my September comparison, Nicor territory was already where a heat pump had the thinnest edge over gas on operating cost. I'll rerun my heat pump numbers when Nicor posts the new rate.

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See the average Illinois electric rate now, why bills jumped June 1, and what changed October 1.The Iran War Is Sending Oil Prices Through the Roof — Will Your Illinois Electric Bill Follow?Oil is at $112/barrel after the Strait of Hormuz blockade. Here's how the Iran conflict could push Illinois electricity rates even higher — and what you can do now.Why Your Ameren Bill Keeps Going Up (and What MISO Has to Do With It)Ameren bills jumped 18-22% in summer 2025 and rose again June 1, 2026. Here's why MISO capacity auctions are driving your rates up and what you can do about it.The Real Cost of Solar Panels in Illinois: 2026 BreakdownWhat do solar panels actually cost in Illinois in 2026? Real numbers for cash purchase, lease, and Solar for All — from an installer who gets prices below the state average.Selling a House With Leased Solar Panels in Illinois (2026 Guide)Selling a house with leased solar panels in Illinois? Here's how the lease transfer works, what buyers actually think, and why it's not the problem most people expect — owned systems too.Solar Lease vs Buying Panels: I Did the Math for IllinoisShould you lease or buy solar panels in Illinois? I broke down the real numbers for both paths using current 2026 prices, incentives, and Ameren/ComEd rates.Data Centers = 70% of Illinois's Rate Spike (Here's What It Costs You)Data centers drove 70% of Illinois's capacity-cost spike in 2026. See the PJM/MISO mechanism, the per-household cost impact, and what to do to protect your bill.ComEd Rate Increase 2026: Oct 1 Supply Drops to 10.103¢, but Delivery Didn'tUpdated Oct 2026: ComEd's 2026 rate increase put the Price to Compare at 10.399¢/kWh through September 30; from October 1 it is 10.103¢/kWh. What changed June 1, what reset October 1, the ICC delivery increases that didn't reset, and your all-in cost per kWh.Illinois Electricity Rates Have Nearly Doubled Since 2021 — Here's What That Means for Your BillIllinois electricity rates have surged 90%+ since 2021. Here's what's driving the increases, what to expect next, and how to protect your household.Illinois Solar Incentives 2026: 7 Programs Worth $12,000-$18,000+Illinois solar incentives 2026: Illinois Shines RECs, the new $20/REC customer-owned adder, $300/kW DG rebate, battery rebate, net metering, and property tax exemption — worth $12,000-$18,000+ on an owned system. Plus no-cost Solar for All for income-eligible households.Solar Battery Backup in Illinois — What It Actually Powers and Whether It's Worth ItWhat does a solar battery actually run during an outage? How much does it cost with the $300/kWh rebate? Here's the honest breakdown for Illinois homeowners.
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