CHICAGO — Chicago electric company Commonwealth Edison has launched a new program designed to reduce costs for low-income customers.

The Low-Income Discount program will provide price breaks starting Jan. 1, 2026, to qualifying households in its service area. ComEd delivers energy to more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, approximately 70% of the state’s population.

“ComEd understands that families are struggling with a perfect storm of economic uncertainty and rising energy supply costs due to capacity auctions, which make up as much as half of ComEd bills, and we are committed to helping address these higher costs by providing practical support,” the company wrote in its announcement Monday.

Households with an income up to 300% of the federal poverty level will qualify for benefits on a tiered schedule. Those with incomes less than or equal to 50% of the federal threshold will see the largest discounts.

Ajit Apte, ComEd’s senior vice president of customer operations, said the company would not have an estimate of the discount levels or how much customers can save until customers start signing up. He said ComEd will have a better idea once the first bills go out, and the company has more data.

“We want to make sure that we help the customers who are most in need,” Apte said.  “Those customers who are most in need will get the maximum benefit.”

ComEd’s discount will be funded through a fee levied on all customers, including low-income households that receive the discount.

ADVERTISEMENT

While Apte said this is standard and in line with the law, consumer advocate groups like the nonprofit Citizens Utility Board, or CUB, argue the company’s shareholders should foot the bill.

“The Low-Income Discount Rate is a step in the right direction — and CUB plans to spread the word to people who qualify,” CUB Communications Director Jim Chilsen wrote in an email to Capitol News Illinois. “But ComEd is a wealthy company, and we always think the utility should devote more shareholder funds for beneficial programs like this.”

Apte said ComEd sees that its customers need help, pointing to a $10 million customer relief effort from June that provided one-time grants of $500 to over 30,000 low-income customers with overdue bills. That program was funded through ComEd’s parent company, Exelon.

“Affordability is on everyone’s mind,” Apte said. “That (customer relief fund) was a bridge to this program for low-income discounts.”

Electric utilities were ordered by the Illinois Commerce Commission to file low-income discount rates following a review initiated under the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.

ComEd proposed its low-income discount rates in early 2024, and the ICC approved them this March.

The ICC required the same for natural gas utilities, which implemented their rate discounts in October 2024. Low-income discounts for Ameren Illinois electric customers are expected to begin June 1, 2026.

The amount saved will differ based on household size, income level and average area utility costs, but the program is generally designed to keep energy costs below 6% of household income for homes that rely on electric heating and 3% for homes that don’t.

The U.S. Department of Energy classifies households that spend 6% or more of household income on energy costs as high energy burden households. Low-income households have an average energy burden of 6%, three times above the 2% national average energy burden of non-low-income households.

Residents who are approved recipients of the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, will be automatically enrolled in the program. Unenrolled LIHEAP-eligible households can register with the federal program by reaching out to their local community action agencies, which administer LIHEAP.

Approximately $3.6 billion in LIHEAP disbursements were delayed in reaching recipients in the aftermath of the federal government shutdown, which ended Nov. 12. Nearly 7 in 10 LIHEAP households also receive SNAP benefits, which partially lapsed during the shutdown, putting extra strain on low-income households.

ComEd customers who do not qualify or choose not to apply for LIHEAP may still be eligible for the company’s discount program if their household income is below 300% of the federal poverty level.

To register, residents can visit their local community action agency now or self-certify online at ComEd.com/EnergySavings starting in January.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.