Unless David and Kathy Rajter of Oak Park are covertly running a particle accelerator, Integrys Energy apparently overestimated their monthly electric usage by roughly 1.6 million kilowatt-hours. more ›

The roar of a wood chipper woke us this week as ComEd sawed foliage away from power lines in the alley. Here's why you might be hearing the same thing very soon. more ›

You have to appreciate Senator Cullerton's stick-to-it-iveness... After a "clean coal" bill he championed was voted down for the third time, he pulled a slick parliamentary move this week to keep the proposal alive. more ›

Lawmakers in Springfield yesterday approved a ComEd-backed smart grid bill and plans for speed cameras that could survey huge swaths of Chicago to catch fast drivers. more ›

Gov. Quinn vetoed the $2.6 billion smart grid bill in September, siding with consumers who attacked the utility-backed bill for padding ComEd's profits. The clock is ticking for Springfield to amend the controversial bill. more ›

Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a bill that would have raised ComEd rates to pay for the company's infrastructure updates, while blocking government oversight. more ›

This innocent little balloon knocked out power to 2,000 customers in Roscoe Village, including the Retro on Roscoe street festival. more ›

Is ComEd just a victim of the weather? Or is it just a crappy power company? more ›

We're used to meteorologists being wrong about their forecasts and, while everyone predicted thunderstorms yesterday morning, none predicted the fierce and brief winds that came with it. more ›

Just when it looked like our electric bill was coming down, ComEd is approved a rate hike. more ›

Can we step out on a limb for a moment and proclaim our hatred of ComEd? Of all the local utility providers, they're the ones who've given us the most hassle over the years. The 19 percent rate hike ComEd enacted last June didn't help matters (even though the rates went down in January). Lately, though, there seems to be a marketing battle brewing for our electric bill dollar. Currently, five different companies are vying for the services of ComEd's 3.4 million residential customers, hoping that the promise of lower electrical rates (not to mention consumer frustration with the ComEd) will lead to some competition in the marketplace. But like all offers that promise savings, it's probably to your benefit to do some comparison shopping before you decide to kick ComEd to the curb, or stick with the devil you know. more ›

Attorney General Lisa Madigan has promised to fight legislation in Springfield currently being championed by ComEd that would lock in rate hikes automatically over the next decade to finance a $2.6 billion infrastructure improvement project. more ›

ComEd is once again pushing for automatic rate increases. Crain’s reports that the utility plans a big push at Illinois lawmakers this spring which would allow electric and natural gas providers to raise rates each year along with curbing regulatory powers which control pricing. ComEd is hoping for a “policy based approach” that would allow all utilities that invest in their infrastructure at a particular level to change increase rates based on costs. The process would allow utilities to avoid a lengthy review process from the Illinois Commerce Commission. more ›

The announcement that an Indiana coal plant will be closing is particularly good news for Chicagoans. As we have reported before, while the State Line Generating Station is technically in the Hoosier state, you have to drive through the South Side to get to it. That unusual location quirk has helped the Prohibition-era plant avoid some regulatory scrutiny in the past, but changing federal regulations and enforcement have caught up with the filthy facility. Coal giant Dominion announced that they would shutter State Line and a Massachusetts plant between 2014 and 2017 rather than live up to new federal requirements that would have forced them to install modern pollution controls to protect the lungs and skies over nearby neighborhoods.

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Earlier this week the Oak Park Village Board of Trustees voted to allow free parking for electric cars at all meters, city parking lots and garages. Oak Park will also have two free electric car charging stations installed in a partnership between ComEd and I-Go Car Sharing. more ›

As urban development marches on and green space becomes harder to come by, community gardens are great spaces for residents to exercise their green thumbs and get their hands dirty growing flowers and vegetables in what would otherwise be an empty space. One of the more popular spots for community gardens in the suburbs were the underutilized ares below the ComEd power lines crisscrossing throughout various villages. more ›

The rain may be over and the trains may be running again, but flood clean-up still continues throughout the city for the remainder of the weekend. According to the Chicago Tribune, the official rainfall amount for the Chicago area was measured at 6.43 inches, the third largest total for a two-day period in Chicago history. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that an estimated 60 billion gallons of water fell on the city and parts of Cook County, filling all 190 miles of the Deep Tunnel system. more ›

It was a long, stuffy weekend for thousands across the area who remained without power from Friday afternoon's storms. Almost 600,000 people lost power after the storms but as of this morning, ComEd reports that only 14,000 remain without power and that most of those customers will have power by the end of the day. more ›

The Citizens Utility Board created a rewards program with the potential of saving money for ComEd customers in Illinois. The successful pilot program saved users an average of $200 annually on utility bills so CUB is expanding the program with its new website which rewards users for documented reductions in their energy usage. The first 10,000 participants to sign up for the CUB Energy Saver will be eligible. The program comes at a time when ComEd customers may be seeing a hike in their bills. Earlier this month, ComEd attempted to offer the state $500 million in exchange for a four year rate increase but pulled out of the deal after receiving a lot of criticism. more ›

• Police are investigating whether or not four specific strangling deaths over the last two years are connected.
• Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board President, is backing off her promise to cut taxes, blaming a worsening budget situation.
• Some competition for ComEd.

We've all seen balloons float harmlessly around our neighborhood, riding a breeze. But we've never thought how thankful we should be that we don't see more Mylar balloons floating around. According to ComEd officials, a Mylar balloon was responsible for the power outage last night to 3,825 customers on the Northwest Side. The balloon got tangled in the power line near Laramie Avenue and Belden Street. more ›

• Besides the income tax increase, Gov. Quinn is also asking for a sales tax holiday timed to benefit back-to-school shoppers.
• How about that? There's something in the city Mayor Daley sell off.
• Progress Illinois has more on today's CPS student walk-out.

• Bribery, thy name is ComEd.
• A "Code of Silence" wedding. Is there still line-dancing at the reception?
• Roger Ebert, OK GO, Stephen Colbert, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie House Restoration project were among this year's Webby winners.

If ComEd gets its wish, customers could be paying more for power pretty soon. Crain's is reporting that the company announced plans to ask the Illinois Commerce Commission for the hike at an investors conference in New York on February third. The request will likely be made in the second or third quarter of this year. more ›

• Police hope surveillance footage will give them leads in a shooting that happened yesterday in the Irving Park neighborhood.
• Attorney General Lisa Madigan today said that Gov. Quinn is clear to sell Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government for housing terrorism suspects currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
• Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, the owners of E2 who were recently sentenced to two years in jail, have asked a judge to allow them to remain free pending their appeal.

Beginning in June, the approximately 3.8 million customers of Commonwealth Edison Co. who live in Northern Illinois can expect to see a 7.5 percent decrease in their household electricity bills -- a savings of $6.36 a month for the average residential customer. more ›

• There are now nine suspected cases of Swine Flu in the Chicagoland area: 5 in Chicago, 2 in Kane County, and 1 in DuPage and Lake Counties.
• Former Alderman Tyrone Kenner, who was once found guilty of accepting bribes, passed away on Monday from complications due to diabetes; Kenner was 76.
• ComEd named Anne Pramaggiore its first ever female president and COO today.

10,000 Commonwealth Edison customers were without power when they woke up this morning. People living in the south suburbs in Evergreen Park, Bedford Park, Oak Lawn, Burbank, Stickney, Summit, Bolingbrook and Bridgeview lost power about 1:30 a.m. more ›

As of Thursday morning, crews had reduced the number of people without power to 8,000 from a peak of almost 560,000 on Monday night. ComEd spokesman Joe Trost said he's confident customers still without power will be back up by 6 p.m. tonight. The majority of those customers are in Chicago and various southern suburbs. more ›

Chicago Weather Godfather Tom Skilling confirmed that Monday evening's intense storms spawned three tornadoes that produced damage across the Chicago metro area. According to Skilling, Griffith, Indiana was hit by an Enhanced Fujita scale-2 tornado (winds 111-135 m.p.h.) while both Bloomingdale and Bolingbrook were hit by EF1 tornadoes. In addition to the twisters, nearly 2.5 inches of rain fell at O'Hare, already making this the wettest meteorological summer in fifteen years. more ›