Illinois‘ deregulated energy market relies on two parties — utilities and suppliers. Utilities like Ameren maintain your energy delivery. They operate in a defined service area. Additionally, they respond to outages and ensure customers have consistent energy service.

Suppliers purchase the energy that utilities send to the end user. Also, deregulation drives competition among suppliers, keeping the rate of energy down and gives consumers more control over what they pay.

Shopping for new a supplier can help you maintain a low rate in the ever changing market. Ameren will provide a default rate also known as the Price to Compare on your bill. This rate is a variable and is not always the best unit of measurement against supplier rates due to the fact it is always changing.