July 22, 2022 CUB explainer: What are capacity markets?
As we hold community events across the state of Illinois, people are often surprised to hear that our electric bills cover not only the power we use but the power we could use. That’s capacity.
And the cost of capacity–for most customers it’s hidden in the supply charge we pay–has grown over the years to about 21 percent of the supply side of our bills, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Because it’s such a key part of your bill, CUB produced this explainer to give you more information about capacity costs and how the market sets those prices.