Guides

How to read a utility rate case

By Electric Bill Tracker · Updated October 2026

A rate case is a formal request by a utility to its state commission to change what it charges. The filing runs to thousands of pages, but the parts that affect your bill fit on an index card.

The request

• Revenue requirement. The total the utility says it needs per year to cover costs plus a return on its investment. The headline “$1.5 billion increase” for ComEd is a revenue-requirement number, not what any one customer pays.
• Requested percentage. The revenue increase divided by current revenue. Residential customers often get a different percentage than industrial customers, so look for the residential figure.
• Typical bill impact. Utilities are usually required to state the monthly change for a customer using a round number of kWh, often 1,000. That is the number we show in the tracker. If your usage is half that, your impact is roughly half.
• Test year. The 12-month period the utility uses to justify costs. A “future test year” projects spending that has not happened yet, which is where consumer advocates usually push back.
• Return on equity (ROE). The profit margin the utility earns on its investment, typically 9–10.5%. Each tenth of a percent is worth tens of millions of dollars at a large utility, which is why so much of a case is fought over it.

What happens next

1. Filing. The clock starts; most states must decide within 9–12 months.
2. Intervenors. The state consumer advocate, industrial customers, environmental groups and sometimes cities join the case. In Illinois the Citizens Utility Board argued ComEd’s 2025 request was $914 million too high.
3. Public hearings. Held in the service territory. Comments go on the record.
4. Settlement or litigation. Many cases settle with the utility accepting a lower number. Duke Energy Carolinas went from 18% to 9.5% in 2026 this way.
5. Order. The commission approves an amount, usually less than requested. New rates take effect on a stated date.

Things that raise your bill without a rate case

Riders are surcharges for specific costs that adjust on their own schedule: fuel, storm recovery, energy efficiency programs, renewable mandates. A utility can have no “rate increase” in the news and still raise bills 5% through a fuel rider. We log riders as separate entries when we find them.

Multi-year plans approve increases for two or three years at once. Con Edison’s 2026–2028 plan is one; the January 2027 and January 2028 steps are already decided.

What “approved” does not mean

An approved case sets the delivery rates. In deregulated states the supply price is set by your chosen supplier or the default service auction, and it moves separately. If you are in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania or another choice state, the commission’s number is only part of the story.