Commercial Energy in Des Plaines, IL: Electricity & Gas

Des Plaines sits just south of O'Hare with a diverse commercial base — offices, hospitality, retail, gaming, healthcare, and industrial accounts. Its position on the airport's doorstep gives it a strong hotel and travel-services cluster alongside light industry and distribution. A useful point of accuracy for businesses here: its natural gas utility is Nicor, not North Shore Gas, despite the northern-suburb location.

Utilities in Des Plaines

• Electricity: ComEd is the delivery utility, with commercial supplier choice available. See the ComEd commercial guide.
• Natural gas: Nicor Gas is the delivery utility — south of the North Shore Gas boundary — with commercial supplier choice through Choices for You. See the Nicor Gas commercial guide.

North Shore Gas territory runs from roughly Winnetka north; Des Plaines is south and west of that line and is Nicor. Confirm both utilities from a recent bill for a specific address.

Supply vs delivery: how choice works

A Des Plaines commercial bill splits into delivery and supply. Delivery is what ComEd charges to run the wires and Nicor charges to run the pipes — plus metering, billing, and emergency response — a regulated cost overseen by the Illinois Commerce Commission that stays the same no matter who supplies the energy. Supply is the commodity, and that is the part an eligible account can shop.

An eligible commercial electric account can take its supply from a licensed Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES) or remain on ComEd's default utility supply. Nicor's Choices for You program offers the same for gas through certified suppliers, while Nicor keeps delivering the gas and responding to emergencies. Because Des Plaines is close to the North Shore Gas boundary, it is worth restating that the gas utility here is Nicor — the gas utility name printed on a recent bill is the reliable confirmation for any address. Whichever supplier an account uses, reliability is unchanged: ComEd owns the wires and meter and handles outages, and Nicor maintains the pipes and handles leaks.

What shapes energy costs here

• Industrial and larger commercial accounts may be demand-billed, making demand charges relevant.
• Offices, hotels, and retail benefit from supply comparison and a bill review.
• Gas procurement applies through Nicor where the account has meaningful load — see commercial natural gas.

Larger single meters — a hotel, a hospital wing, an industrial building — often carry a demand (kW) component on top of energy (kWh), where the monthly peak drives a meaningful share of the charge, and in the ComEd/PJM market that peak behavior also sets a capacity tag (PLC) that follows the account into future supply cost. A PJM capacity auction clearing price is a wholesale figure, not a bill rate. Hospitality accounts are notable for their gas load — heating, hot water, laundry, and kitchens — so procuring natural gas alongside electricity often matters as much as the power side. Gas is seasonal, weighted toward winter, so contract term and shape are worth weighing against price.

Getting started

Provide a recent electric and gas bill for a Des Plaines business (12 months of usage helps, and interval data helps for demand-billed accounts), and the account can be reviewed and priced on matched terms through the procurement process. Have the utility account numbers, the rate class on each bill, and any current supplier contract's end date ready so timing aligns with the renewal.

On timing, supply is usually shopped in a window before the current term ends, which leaves room to compare offers instead of deciding against a deadline or slipping onto a hold-over rate. A hotel or other hospitality account with both electric and gas load can review the two together and align their renewal dates, so the property is looked at once a year rather than piecemeal. No savings figure is promised in advance.