Compare commercial gas suppliers beyond the headline rate in Illinois

Illinois: Make the bid specification match the utility

Start with EIA: natural gas customer choice and eligibility. The table below links this decision to the represented gas companies in Illinois. It does not establish service or supplier availability for every account.

Require an inclusion schedule

Ask bidders to mark commodity, capacity, balancing, taxes, utility transportation and account fees as included, excluded or variable. An unanswered field is an unresolved cost, not zero.

Compare risk as well as the modeled total

Read the volume measurement period, assignment process, early-exit calculation and renewal mechanism. Request a written calculation for a material overrun or closure rather than relying on a product name such as fixed or flexible.

Illinois utility application

Nicor Gas: the program detail behind this decision

The ICC identifies Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas for residential and small-commercial Gas Choice. An Alternative Gas Supplier sells supply while the delivery utility remains. The ICC’s utility list does not establish that every supplier accepts every commercial class or offers a suitable contract. Program Illinois.

Apply the evidence to an account file

Give bidders the same specification for Utility supply benchmark versus AGS supply and recurring fees, keeping delivery separate. Ask who is responsible for Supplier registration, cancellation terms and return-to-utility conditions. Do not rank an incomplete answer as the cheapest complete offer.

Worked check: fees can reverse the lower rate

Assume hypothetical annual consumption of 10,000 therms. A costs $0.80 per therm plus $20 monthly: $8,240. B costs $0.76 plus $60 monthly: $8,320. B’s commodity price is lower, but its modeled supply total is $80 higher. Equal cost occurs at 12,000 annual therms under these constant-rate assumptions. These are invented inputs, not available offers, local tariffs or program thresholds. Delivery, tax, exit costs and any excluded components still require a separate review.

Turn the review into a calculation

Compare constant supply rates and fees. Enter documented assumptions in matching energy units. Keep any charge outside both supply offers separate; the result does not establish eligibility or an available quote.

Read the Illinois utility guide for the wider service-company distinctions. Convert billed gas units using the bill’s heat-content factor when moving from volume to energy.