CHICAGO, Feb. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) will issue its first-ever report card on electric competition, and alert consumers about troubling reports of potentially fraudulent telephone and door-to-door marketing in Chicago neighborhoods.

CUB Executive Director David Kolata will unveil CUB's report card, which is based on the offers of dozens of unregulated electricity suppliers that have entered the state to compete for residential business in recent years. It grades Illinois' electricity market on consumer protection, innovation, and savings, including the watchdog group's estimate of how much competition has saved electricity shoppers over the past year. 

Illinois is on the verge of what could be a major shift in the electricity market. ComEd and Ameren electricity prices are expected to fall in June of 2013. That could have a significant impact on future savings enjoyed by Illinois consumers, and could create conditions ripe for misleading marketing. CUB will highlight red flags consumers should look for in power pitches, based on reports of telephone and door-to-door solicitations the consumer group has received. The reports may be due to the fact that Chicago has negotiated a power deal with an alternative supplier, and competing companies are racing to get customers before the switch is finalized.   

CUB is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has helped save consumers more than $10 billion by blocking rate hikes and securing refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556, or visit www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board