Illinois Electricity Rates and Average Electric Bill Guide

Low usage keeps the Illinois bill down. Households use 18% less electricity than the typical US household, even though prices run close to the national price. Mild weather and homes that heat with natural gas often show up as low electricity use.

Over a year, the average Illinois household pays about $1,519 for electricity. The state ranks 15th lowest for the monthly bill, 17th highest for price per kWh and 17th lowest for use, out of 51 places (50 states and DC).

Source: EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data, residential sector. Bills are revenue divided by customers, divided by 12.

Want to see where your own bill falls? Use the bill checker or read the average bill guide for apartments, houses and different household sizes.

Illinois is dominated by investor-owned utilities, which serve 92% of residential customers. The rest are served by electric cooperatives (4%) and municipal utilities (3%). EIA lists 25 utilities and electricity suppliers with customers in Illinois.

See every utility that reports customers here on the electric companies in Illinois page.

If you do not know who serves your address, the find my electric company tool matches your county to a utility.

Customers of ComEd and Ameren Illinois can choose an alternative supplier, and many communities buy power for residents through municipal aggregation. EIA data shows retail suppliers served about 21% of Illinois residential customers in 2025.

The official comparison site is Plug In Illinois. Start there, because it is run for consumers and lists real offers.

Read our Illinois electricity providers guide for how switching works, who delivers your power and what to check before you sign.

Utilities in Illinois reported an average of 1 hour and 2 minutes without power per customer in 2025, with 0.70 interruptions per customer, when major storm days are left out. That outage time is shorter than the median state (127 minutes).

Customers in Illinois had 124,412 net-metered residential solar systems with a combined 1,503.9 megawatts of capacity in 2025. That works out to 22.9 systems for every 1,000 households, which ranks 23 of 51 places. Net metering lets a home with solar offset what it uses from the grid, so it changes the bill math for those households. Our net metering guide explains how the credit works.

Outage figures are reported by utilities and follow different standards, so compare states with care. The median state averaged 127 minutes of outage per customer in 2025.

• Check your rate before your habits. Usage here is close to or below the national figure, so the plan and the price per kWh on your bill often matter more than conservation. Our bill reading guide shows where to look.
• Compare supplier offers. Because Illinois allows retail choice, the supply price on your bill can be higher or lower than the default. Compare at least three fixed-rate offers and check the contract length and the cancellation fee.
• Ask about time-of-use pricing. 2 of the 8 largest providers report residential time-of-use programs in EIA data. If you can shift laundry, charging and cooling to cheaper hours, the savings can be real. Our time-of-use guide explains how to test it.
• Ask about budget billing. Many utilities spread costs across the year. Read how budget billing works before you sign up.
• Price your appliances. The electricity cost calculator shows what a space heater, dryer or pool pump costs to run at your rate.

Electric rates and consumer complaints in Illinois are handled by the Illinois Commerce Commission. If you have a billing dispute you could not settle with your utility, the regulator is the next step.