ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL CALLS FOR NEW ELECTRICITY CAPACITY AUCTION TO PREVENT DRASTIC PRICE INCREASE FOR COMED CONSUMERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL CALLS FOR NEW ELECTRICITY CAPACITY AUCTION TO PREVENT DRASTIC PRICE INCREASE FOR COMED CONSUMERS

April 15, 2025

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reduce electricity capacity prices that are set to increase substantially on June 1 for ComEd customers.

If allowed to go into effect on June 1, the results of the 2025-2026 PJM Interconnection (PJM) capacity auction would drastically increase electricity prices for consumers. In his complaint, Raoul is asking that the auction be rerun under revised rules that would be fairer for consumers.

"PJM and FERC have acknowledged that the rules are flawed, and they have been changed for the next two auctions," Raoul said. "I am asking that the most recent auction be conducted again under the revised rules, which have already been approved by FERC. These changes are critical to protect consumers from unreasonable increases to their utility bills."

Capacity prices are paid by each residential, commercial and industrial customer as part of their electric bill. These prices are set through an auction for which companies that generate electricity submit bids. For ComEd consumers in northern Illinois, the auction is run by PJM. As a result of the flawed auction held last year, the PJM price included in ComEd rates is scheduled to increase by 594%. ComEd estimates that the average increase per consumer would be about $10.50 per month. Raoul's complaint projects that rerunning the auction with the fairer rules could cut the PJM price increase by almost half.

Raoul's complaint asks that the auction be rerun with specific new rules in place, including counting power that is already serving customers, which the original rules ignored. If the new auction is not held before June 1, the complaint asks that FERC order refunds in the amounts paid by customers over the capacity prices produced by the rerun auction.

Joining Raoul in filing the complaint are the Maryland Office of People Counsel and the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel.