You can compare Illinois electric rates by downloading a list of Illinois electric companies and calling each company or visiting their website.

Each IL electric company will have their own way of how you find their rates on their website. Some Illinois electric companies will choose to not even show their prices on their website.

Many times times an Illinois electric provider will tell you a completely different story about their electricity rates compared to what you see an an ad.

Generally sales people over the phone are much more often willing to lie and tell half truths about their prices or just leave out vital information about their rate to assist you in making an accurate comparison among providers.

Because of these multiple variables our energy consultants have created a detailed comparison chart that will help you compare residential electric providers i Illinois.

For commercial electricity customers the rates are not immediately available online because there are multiple rate classes. Beyond just the rate class issue our process uses a reverse auction where providers bid against each other to win your business.

You can use our compare tool at the top right if you are a residential customer. If you are a commercial business be sure and choose “commercial” from the drop down.

Once you have designated yourself as a commercial account and have typed in your zip code a form will appear. We will need your address information to pull your historical electric usage. This usage or estimated usage will be used to determine your rate class.

If you have questions about this please call one of our Illinois energy consultants at 1-800-971-4020.

An IL electric rate is available from not just the old monopoly electric utility in Illinois but by multiple other alternate electric companies. Now that Illinois is deregulated you have some options for who you choose to provide your electrci service.

Your electric utility will still be the same pole and wires company you have always used by you can compare electric rates in Illinois and find the cheapets one you can find.

The key to comparing IL electric rates accurately is to not fall for common scams. The most common scam is to offer a competitive electric rate for the first month and then jack the rate up after the first month.

As you can see a variable month to month rate allows the ability for an IL electric provider to make a rate look good to begin with only to charge you much higher for that same price when the first month rate expires.

You usually will not know that the price has jumped until you have accumulated a month in electricity charges.

Because of these issues be sure to compare fixed IL electric rates and don’t fall for a cheap looking 1 month rate.

An Illinois electric provider comparison can be done easily for residential electric customers and you can see what I am talking abot by typing in your Illinois zip code in the compare tool at the right.

For commercial Illinois electric provider comparisons there is a bit more involved to see competitive rates. You may see some real time commercial rates online in Illinois but keep in mind these rates are not tailored to your specific companies usage.

Because there are multiple rate classes for commercial energy customers if you order electric service from a rate you see online you are really signing up at an expensive price with a huge margin in place.

For commercial Illinois electric providers to advertise an umbrella rate to commercial customers they have to inflate the price so they make a profit no matter what type of business signs up with them.

A better way to compare commercial Illinois electric providers is to have an energy consulting company like ours take your companies usage through a reverse auction process.

The usage is bid on based on your rate class by multiple energy companies in Illinois. The prices receieved go through an aucion funnel that further lowers the prices.

Once all prices are in we create a detailed commercial energy proposal so you can see the prices that have come in and the different fixed rate terms available.

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When choosing an Illinois electric provider pay attention to two things. Make sure if they are advertising a “competitive” electric rate that it is a fixed price and not a variable price.

Electric providers in Illinois will sometimes advertise a very cheap looking variable price that all of  sudden will go up in price after the first month.

They hook you in the first month and than drive the cost up on you as you stay on the rate. To get around this I recommend comparing fixed Illinois electric rates instead of month to month or 1 month electric rates.

The fixed price offers price predictability while the variable price offers continuous never ending headaches as you get a bill shocker in the mail and go back out shopping after only a month or two.

A less used trick we have seen an electric provider do is to advertise a fixed electricity price but there will be a fuel surcharge as a part of the rate. If fuel prices go up they have the option of raising your “fixed price” because this fuel surcharge is in the contract.

These are just a couple of scams in the energy market that will help you stay out of trouble when shopping Illinois electric companies.

If you have any questions about this please call us at 1-800-971-4020.

There are a couple different Illinois electric provider classes. There are commercial electric companies and residential. Some Illinois electric providers will sell to both residential and commercial customers.

You will find that almost all electric companies in Illinois will offer both residential and commercial electric rates. The way it works with a commercial electricity company and rate plan is a little different compared to residential.

For instance, with commercial electric rates there are several different rate classes for commercial and industrial energy customers.

What we will typically do is offer a snapshot of commercial electric rates on a specific date of the month to give people an idea of where prices are at.

The problem with the snapshot is that it is taken from a specific rate class for a specific type of business. The rates give commercial businesses a general idea of where prices are at but they are by no means the exact rate they can achieve.

Sometimes the electric rates in our snapshot are cheaper than what a commercial business can get and sometimes they are more expensive but it is only because the rate classes are different.

A chemical plant will usually be able to get a much cheaper electric rate compared to a hair salon. A restaurant can procure a better Illinois electric rate than a hobby shop and the list goes on.

With residential electric rates in Illinois the rates are all the same. There are no different rate classes for residential Illinois electric rates. You will see rate comparisons for residential electric customers that offer real time prices that can be acted on immediately.

The reason you will see real time data for residential electricity prices in Illinois but not for commercial accounts is simply because the rates differ for commercial rate classes.

Occasionally you will see a commercial rate chart that shows rates from different Illinois electric companies but the problem with this is that it has a huge built in margin added to the rates to account for all the different rate classes.

These type of commercial rate comparisons are helpful to give you a general snapshot but we do not recommend signing up using one of these rate quotes as an energy consultant can get you a much better electric rate.

What an Illinois energy consultant will do is take your exact historical or estimated electric usage and get a tailor made electricity quote. These type of quotes are put through a reverse auction and the cheapest electric rate is achieved for the business.

As you can see the reverse auction process does not offer you an umbrella commercial electric rate with a huge markup. Umbrella rates are used for residential customers because everyone uses electricity within a certain usage thresh-hold so it makes sense to price this way.

In summary don’t go with an umbrella commercial electricity price in Illinois. If you go with an all encompassing rate like this you will get burned bad. There will always be a large markup on this type of rate.

If you would like to learn more about good Illinois electric providers and their rate plans please use our comparison tool at the top right.

You may also call us at 1-800-971-4020