ComEd Electricity Rates in 2026: What Are You Actually Paying?

What are ComEd electricity rates? If you want to know what ComEd charges per kWh in 2026, start with one key point: ComEd's supply price is not the same thing as your total electric rate. (A kWh, or kilowatt-hour, is the unit on your bill.)

A residential ComEd bill can include electricity supply, transmission, delivery, metering, monthly adjustments, taxes and fees. And many Illinois homeowners don't buy their electricity supply from ComEd at all. They buy it from an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES) or through municipal aggregation. ComEd still delivers it.

So no single number tells every ComEd homeowner “this is what electricity costs.” Here's how the pieces fit together. We'll also explain why prices in northern Illinois are still elevated.

What Is ComEd's Current Price to Compare?

The Price to Compare is ComEd's default price for supply and transmission. For the non-summer period of October 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027, ComEd's residential Price to Compare is 10.103¢/kWh. That's made up of:

• Electric supply charge: 8.413¢/kWh
• Transmission services charge: 1.69¢/kWh

The summer price that ran from June 1 through September 30, 2026 was 10.399¢/kWh. The new fall price is nearly 3% lower than summer's. But it's still about 53% higher than ComEd's price two years ago.

What the Price to Compare Leaves Out

The Price to Compare does not include:

• Delivery and metering charges
• The monthly Purchased Electricity Adjustment
• Other riders, taxes and fees

The Purchased Electricity Adjustment reconciles what ComEd collected for supply with what the electricity actually cost. It's calculated monthly and can show up as either a charge or a credit. That's one reason the supply cost on a real bill rarely matches the published Price to Compare exactly.

What Does “Price to Compare” Mean?

Illinois lets most residential customers buy electricity supply from a competitive supplier. If you stay on ComEd's default supply, ComEd buys power through a process directed by the Illinois Power Agency. It passes the cost through to you. Utilities charge for that supply without any markup or profit.

If you choose an ARES, the supplier generally replaces ComEd's electric supply and transmission charges with its own contract price. ComEd still delivers the electricity. That's what makes the Price to Compare useful: it's the benchmark you hold a supplier offer up against.

A Simple Supplier Example

Suppose a supplier offers 9.60¢/kWh fixed with no monthly fee, no cancellation penalty and a reasonable term. Against the current 10.103¢ Price to Compare, that's about 0.5¢/kWh less. At 12,000 kWh a year, that works out to roughly $60 a year in supply savings.

Not life-changing. But it doesn't require solar panels or a new HVAC system, either.

Be Careful With Alternative Suppliers

In Illinois, shopping hasn't automatically saved money. As of May 2026, nearly 1.14 million Illinois households were with an alternative supplier. An August 2026 review of Illinois Commerce Commission data looked at ComEd-area customers with alternative suppliers. Over the year reviewed, they paid on average about 1.28¢/kWh more than ComEd's supply price. The highest rate observed in ComEd territory was a 35.32¢/kWh variable rate.

That doesn't mean every competitive offer is bad. It means you should read the contract. Before switching, check:

• Fixed vs. variable pricing
• Contract term and renewal rate
• Monthly fees and early termination fees
• How long any promotional rate lasts

A plan can start below ComEd's Price to Compare and later become far more expensive.

Municipal Aggregation Can Affect Your Supply Too

Many Illinois communities buy electricity on behalf of residents through municipal aggregation. That means the supply line on your ComEd bill may show a company other than ComEd even if you don't remember choosing a supplier. Don't assume an aggregation contract is automatically cheaper. Compare the rate you're actually paying with the current Price to Compare.

Why Are ComEd Supply Prices Still Elevated?

The biggest regional story is PJM capacity prices. PJM runs the regional grid that serves ComEd territory. Its capacity market pays power plants to be available during future periods of high demand.

For June 2026 through May 2027, PJM's capacity auction cleared at the price cap of $329.17 per MW-day, up from $269.92 the year before. For ComEd territory, that's about 22% higher than the prior year and about 11 times higher than two years earlier. ComEd estimated that the higher supply prices could cost customers about 12% more on average. That estimate covers June 2026 through May 2027, depending on usage and weather.

That's a supply-cost estimate. It doesn't mean every total bill rises exactly 12%. Delivery charges, household usage, supplier choice and weather all play a role.

Are Data Centers Part of the Reason?

Yes. An independent review of the PJM market concluded that data center load growth is the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions.

Capacity markets look ahead. If projected demand grows faster than dependable generation, the value of capacity rises. Northern Illinois is seeing major new data center demand. At the same time, PJM is dealing with power plant retirements, slow hookups of new generation and transmission limits.

That doesn't make every ComEd charge a data center charge. But large-load growth is already affecting the regional market that secures reliable supply.

Could ComEd's Price Stay High?

Consumer advocates expect ComEd's supply price to stay elevated at least through May 2028, based on the results of PJM's most recent capacity auctions. Supply prices also reset with the seasons, so this is a number worth checking again each June and October.

What About ComEd Delivery Charges?

ComEd separately charges for delivering electricity over its local grid. You pay these charges no matter who supplies your electricity. They vary by customer class (single-family vs. multifamily, electric space heat vs. not).

Here are typical 2026 delivery charges for a single-family home without electric space heat, as of January 1, 2026:

• Customer charge: $15.26/month
• Standard metering charge: $3.81/month
• Distribution Facilities Charge: about 6.228¢/kWh
• Illinois Electricity Distribution Tax charge: 0.126¢/kWh

Supply and delivery aren't competing descriptions of the same charge. They're both parts of the bill.

Supply Profit vs. Delivery Profit

This distinction matters. ComEd passes supply costs through without markup. Delivery is different: that's where the utility earns regulated revenue for building and maintaining local infrastructure. A high supply price and a delivery rate increase are two separate issues, decided in different places.

Why Your Effective ComEd Electricity Rate Can Be Much Higher Than 10.103¢

Divide your total electric charges by the kWh you used. That's your effective rate.

For example, a $186 bill for 900 kWh works out to about 20.7¢/kWh. That doesn't mean ComEd's supply price is 20.7¢. It means the bill includes supply, transmission, delivery, fixed charges, adjustments, taxes and fees.

Use the effective rate to evaluate your household. Use the Price to Compare to evaluate a supplier. They're two different calculations.

Compare kWh Before Comparing Dollars

Suppose August 2025 was 900 kWh and $170, and August 2026 was 1,300 kWh and $245. It's easy to say “ComEd raised my bill $75.” But usage also rose about 44%. That points to the house: air conditioning, a heat pump, electric water heating, a pool, an EV or more people at home.

Now suppose usage barely moved (1,000 kWh vs. 1,020 kWh) but the bill is much higher. That's much more likely a price problem: the supply rate, a supplier contract, delivery charges or adjustments.

ComEd Now Offers Time-of-Day Delivery Pricing

In 2026, ComEd opened enrollment in an optional residential delivery rate where the Distribution Facilities Charge changes by time of day. Sign-ups opened in February 2026, and ComEd notes that a change can take two to three billing cycles to take effect. The four periods are:

• Morning: 6 a.m.–1 p.m.
• Mid-Day Peak: 1 p.m.–7 p.m.
• Evening: 7 p.m.–9 p.m.
• Overnight: 9 p.m.–6 a.m.

An August 2026 breakdown looked at a typical single-family home without electric heat. It shows delivery charges of roughly 4.5¢ in the morning, 11.9¢ during the mid-day peak, 4.2¢ in the evening and 3.3¢ overnight. In other words, delivering a kWh between 1 and 7 p.m. costs more than three times as much as delivering one overnight.

Who Might Benefit From Time-of-Day Delivery?

A household that can move electricity use out of the 1–7 p.m. window. Flexible loads include EV charging, the dishwasher, laundry, pool equipment and water heating.

Air conditioning is harder to shift. That's where pre-cooling, good insulation, a smart thermostat and battery storage start to matter.

ComEd Also Has Hourly Pricing

ComEd's residential Hourly Pricing program ties the supply price to PJM's real-time hourly market for the ComEd zone. Prices change every hour. They can be just a few cents overnight and spike far higher on hot summer evenings.

A few things to know before enrolling:

• The hourly prices ComEd displays don't include your capacity charge, which is billed as a separate line.
• Delivery charges and other bill components still apply.
• ComEd says plainly that savings cannot be guaranteed.

Never treat a 3¢ hourly market price as if the whole house is getting 3¢ all-in electricity. Hourly Pricing tends to work best for homes with EVs, batteries, flexible appliances, smart controls or the ability to shift cooling.

What About HVAC?

For many ComEd customers, the largest controllable summer load is air conditioning. Suppose an aging AC adds 400 extra kWh a month in summer. At an all-in cost near 20¢/kWh, that's about $80 a month. Switching suppliers to save 0.5¢/kWh on 1,200 kWh would save about $6 a month.

Both matter. They're just not the same size.

A well-insulated home can also pre-cool earlier and coast through expensive afternoon hours. That gets more valuable when both supply and delivery can vary by time. Illinois is increasingly a market where when you use electricity matters.

What About Solar?

Net metering is the credit you get for extra solar power you send to the grid. For systems that started net metering after January 1, 2025, Illinois moved away from the old full-retail net-metering model. New systems generally receive supply-side credits for exported electricity, so exports no longer offset delivery charges the way legacy systems did.

That makes self-consumption more important. A solar kWh used immediately in the house avoids a full retail purchase. A kWh exported is credited differently depending on your supply arrangement and whether you're on Hourly Pricing. For Hourly Pricing customers, ComEd values net-metering credits at the hourly market price when the power is generated. So solar exported during high-price hours is worth more than solar exported when power is cheap.

ComEd also offers a $300/kW rebate for qualifying residential solar with a smart inverter. It offers $300/kWh for paired battery storage. Illinois Shines REC incentives (payments for the clean energy your system produces) can add significant value. A 2026 solar proposal should model HVAC timing, EV charging, battery storage and orientation, not just annual production.

What About Battery Storage?

A battery can charge during low-price hours, store solar, avoid high-price hours, reduce afternoon grid imports and provide backup power. Illinois' increasingly time-sensitive rates give batteries a clearer job.

But a battery still has to overcome its cost, efficiency losses, degradation and financing. Rate volatility creates an opportunity. It doesn't guarantee a good return.

Four ComEd Customers Can Have the Same $250 Bill and Need Different Solutions

• Home A: An alternative supplier is charging well above the Price to Compare. Best first move: change supplier.
• Home B: Summer kWh rose 45% because of an old AC. Best first move: HVAC diagnosis.
• Home C: EV charging and flexible loads can happen overnight. Best investigation: Hourly Pricing or time-of-day delivery.
• Home D: An efficient home with steady high usage and a strong roof. Best next move may be solar.

The Best Order for a ComEd Customer

1. Identify your supplier: ComEd, an ARES or municipal aggregation.
2. Compare your supply rate with ComEd's current Price to Compare.
3. Compare kWh year over year to see whether usage changed.
4. Diagnose HVAC and efficiency, especially summer consumption.
5. Review timing: decide whether time-of-day delivery or Hourly Pricing fits the household.
6. Evaluate solar using the post-2025 net-metering rules.
7. Evaluate battery storage separately, based on hourly price exposure, solar exports and backup needs.

The Ashborn Approach

Before recommending equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at the whole picture:

• Your rates: ComEd supply rate, any alternative supplier or aggregation contract, and your delivery class
• Your usage: historical kWh and hourly usage
• Your home and options: HVAC, insulation, time-of-day options, solar and battery storage

You can't control PJM capacity prices. You can control how much electricity your home needs, when it uses it and what you pay for supply.

ComEd rates, supplier offers and adjustments can change. For October 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027, ComEd’s residential Price to Compare is 10.103¢/kWh (8.413¢ supply plus 1.69¢ transmission). It excludes the Purchased Electricity Adjustment, delivery charges, taxes and fees. Delivery charges shown are for a single-family home without electric space heat as of January 1, 2026.