PRESS RELEASE: Illinois Power Agency Credits $580 Million Back to ComEd Customers in First Quarter of 2026

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jenny Whidden

Media Relations Specialist, Illinois Power Agency

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 312-814-3299

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO - Today, the Illinois Power Agency announced that over $580 million and counting has been credited to ComEd customers under agency's Carbon Mitigation Credit (CMC) initiative so far in 2026. As consumers are feeling the burden of higher electricity costs, this initiative has provided significant relief to customers, with monthly credits more than doubling from December 2025 to January 2026.

Since 2022, ComEd customers have received a total credit of over $1.868 billion on their electricity bills under the CMC initiative, and that number is growing. In January 2026 alone, $404 million was distributed directly to residential, commercial, and industrial customers under a separate line item on their electricity bills. Over the life of the program, ComEd's approximately 3.8 million residential customers have saved an average of $177 each.

"The Carbon Mitigation Credit initiative continues to provide substantial benefits to ComEd ratepayers by lowering costs for consumers who are feeling the burden of rising electricity costs," said IPA Director Brian Granahan. "Formed out of CEJA, the program has meaningfully supported clean energy in Illinois while insulating ratepayers from price spikes."

Established by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021, the CMC initiative is designed to support nuclear plants by facilitating the purchase of carbon mitigation credits - which constitute the environmental attributes of the plants' carbon-free electricity - at a price which offers revenue certainty. During periods of low energy prices, this purchase can operate as a much-needed subsidy to keep plants operational when market revenues are insufficient to cover costs.

Importantly, when energy prices are high, the structure of the CMC price can also benefit ratepayers, as has been the case to-date. In these periods, participating nuclear plants are required to return excess assumed revenue to ComEd to pass through to customers. The bill credits are also partially the result of federal tax credits received by participating nuclear plants. Under the CMC initiative, those plants are required to return federal subsidies such as production tax credits back to ComEd customers. By law, contracts for the purchase of CMCs are set to conclude by Summer 2027. To learn more, please see the visual below or visit the IPA's Carbon Mitigation Credit web page.