This past June, Ameren Illinois increased its summer electricity supply rates from 8 cents per kilowatt-hour to 12, projecting bills to increase from 10% to 22% — but Champaign-Urbana residents have reported much greater increases. 

Ameren cited a capacity shortage at the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the independent market grid operator that controls energy supply in Illinois, as the primary source of the increase. An extreme heatwave over the summer months was seen as a compounding factor. 

According to Ellie Leonard, Ameren Illinois spokesperson, while the increased rate dropped back down as of Oct. 1, Ameren projects that it will need to increase its rates again next summer.

Many comments from Champaign and Urbana residents on the neighborhood community app NextDoor expressed shock and confusion over the rate hikes. A CU-CitizenAccess review of posts and comments found residents’ bills typically increased between 30% to 80%, with some saying their bills have doubled overall.

One Urbana resident said his bill increased from $150 to $300 for his 875-square-foot apartment from July to August. 

“My bill went from $200 to $500. We turned the air conditioner up a few degrees. It’s becoming unaffordable,” a Glenn Park resident wrote in response. 

While some residents said they had not seen a significant rise, many posts reported drastic increases. Among them: 

• An Edgewood resident’s bill increased by 82% from $170 to $309
• A Morrissey Park resident’s bill increased around 70% from $175 to $300
• A Woodland Acres resident’s bill increased by 72% from $321 to $552 

Although some blamed Ameren, the company said the rise in costs is reflective of grid capacity rates and not the company itself. 

Ameren supplies its energy at a 1:1 ratio of market costs. Each year, the grid operator hosts an auction for grid capacity, which has steadily become more constrained over the past few years, that sets these market costs.

“The electric capacity constraints underscore the ongoing energy supply challenge in Illinois,” Leonard wrote in a statement to CU-CitizenAccess.org. “While Ameren Illinois doesn’t generate power and electric supply costs are out of our control, we continue to advocate for sound energy policy that maintains service reliability and keeps costs affordable for our customers.”

Over the summer, exceptionally high temperatures put extra pressure on the already limited grid, further increasing bills. Vivianna Ruffo, a University of Illinois student, saw her four-bedroom apartment’s bill increase about 70% from $130 to $220 between May and August. 

Ruffo said that despite her efforts to save power by keeping the lights off and conserving AC usage, she still had to make up the difference. 

“My roommates all went home for the summer, so I was left to pay what we would’ve typically split between the four of us,” Ruffo said. “I had to dip into the money I was saving to buy a car. It was very upsetting.”

According to John Fiepel, executive director of the Illinois Commerce Commission, the shortage in grid capacity stems from the changes to state utility regulation laws back in 1997, which restructured energy regulation to be a competitive market. 

In 2021, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act passed regulations calling a push for more renewable and efficient energy and providing an incentive for shifting away from natural gas resources. Rather than building new, renewable energy plants, Illinois has been outsourcing that energy from neighboring states at a higher transfer cost. 

Fiepel said in an interview with CU-CitizenAccess that the act began to lay out a roadmap for what Illinois’s supply policy would look like.  

“In Iowa, they build their utility, their Ameren equivalent, build a whole bunch of wind farms, and just charge that money back to ratepayers. Illinois doesn’t do that,” he said. “So what [the act] then sets up is, ‘Here’s how we’re going to address getting more supply online.’ So there’s a more aggressive renewable standard that’s set forth to build more renewable energy.” 

The rise in data centers has also put tremendous pressure on the grids to supply enough power. According to the commission, as it stands, Illinois lacks sufficient power grids to meet the increasing energy demand. 

The Citizens Utility Board in Illinois, which represents consumers and fights what is considers unnecessary utility hikes, published a Q&A statement in August that said data centers are playing a significant role in increasing electric rates. 

“When grid operators decide how much capacity we need to buy in the auctions, they are predicting how much electricity we will need in the future. The grid operator uses “load forecasts” to project future electricity demand,” Elizabeth Brandon, digital communications manager for the Citizens Utility Board, wrote in the statement. “Too often a proposed data center is included in a utility’s load forecast even if it has little chance of actually being built. This drives up prices.” 

The article also cited an estimate that the requests for potential data centers were five to 10 times more than the number of actual centers in the U.S.

According to the Electric Power Research Institute, data center electricity demand could grow anywhere from 29% to 166% by 2030, depending on the level of growth. 

The commission’s Fiepel said he believes this discrepancy in supply and demand points to a larger issue within the way the grid operator functions, and, while the state commerce commission lobbies for changes, there’s not much else they can do.

“We have no control at all over MISO,” Fiepel said. “It’s designed to be an independent, multi-state, not-for-profit, that’s supposed to send these market signals. Arguably, they’re not tracking with what Illinois needs to build out our new supply … the only way to bring down capacity prices is to put more capacity on the grid.”

Ameren has already projected a similar rate increase in next summer’s bills. Spokesperson Leonard said Ameren acknowledged the burden increases places on billpayers and encourages them to explore available utility assistance program options. 

Champaign County residents can apply for utility assistance through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) offered by the regional planning commission. According to its website, “eligibility is determined by family size and household income in accordance with federal guidelines.” Residents can apply for next year’s program now through August 15, 2026, or until funds are depleted. 

Additionally, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved a new low-income discount program for Ameren customers this year. The program is designed to limit expenses so that customers whose incomes are up to 300% of the federal poverty level total are not paying more than a percentage of their household income toward their electric bill. The percentage is 3% for non-space heating customers or 6% for space heating customers. 

The program is expected to go into effect in June 2026. Qualifying residents will be able to apply for the program directly through Ameren Illinois.