ComEd Delivery Charge Increases 2025: Breaking Down the Non-Supply Costs That Are Growing Faster Than Your Supplier Rate

Here's a reality that catches many Illinois business owners off guard: even if you did everything right on energy supply procurement — locked in a competitive fixed rate, worked with a licensed broker, negotiated every dollar — you may still be seeing your total ComEd commercial electric bill climb in 2025. Why?

Because the supply rate is only part of your electricity cost story. ComEd delivery charges — the non-supply fees for transmission, distribution, and mandated programs — have been growing faster than supply rates for several consecutive years. In 2025, for many medium to large commercial businesses in the ComEd territory, delivery charges now represent more than half of their total electric bill.

Understanding the anatomy of your ComEd non-supply charges isn't just academic. It's essential for setting realistic energy budget expectations, targeting your cost reduction efforts efficiently, and avoiding the common mistake of blaming your competitive supplier for cost increases that are actually coming from the utility's delivery side.

This guide breaks down every delivery charge component, quantifies how much they've grown, explains what's driving the increases, and gives you the specific strategies that reduce your total commercial electricity cost — even when delivery charges are rising.

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Sources:

• Illinois Commerce Commission — ComEd Tariff Filings
• ComEd Commercial Tariffs and Riders
• PJM Interconnection Transmission Rates
• Illinois Power Agency — Annual Report

What Are ComEd Delivery Charges? The Hidden Costs on Your 2025 Electric Bill Explained

Your ComEd commercial electric bill has two fundamental components: the supply side (what you pay for the electricity commodity itself) and the delivery side (what you pay for ComEd to transport that electricity to your facility). Even if you've switched to a competitive supplier, ComEd still delivers your power — and you still pay them for that service.

The Full Anatomy of ComEd Delivery Charges

Here is every non-supply component that typically appears on a ComEd commercial bill, with a brief explanation of what each covers:

1. Customer Charge A flat monthly fee for maintaining your service connection — meter reading, billing, and the administrative cost of being a connected customer. This is typically a fixed dollar amount, unrelated to your consumption or demand.

2. Standard Metering Charge The cost of maintaining your electricity meter. For businesses with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) smart meters, this may include a data communication component.

3. Distribution Facilities Charge ($/kW) This is one of the most important demand-based delivery charges. It's calculated as a rate per kilowatt of your peak measured demand during the billing period. This charge funds the local distribution infrastructure — poles, wires, underground cables, substations, and transformers — in ComEd's service area.

Because it's demand-based (charged per kW), it's directly influenced by your peak demand spikes. A business that "spikes" to 100 kW for one 15-minute interval pays the distribution facilities charge on 100 kW all month, even if their average demand is much lower.

4. Network Facilities Charge / Transmission Charges (NITS) This covers the cost of the high-voltage transmission network operated by ComEd and charged through by PJM. As PJM invests in new transmission infrastructure — driven in part by the need to integrate renewables and serve data center load growth — these charges are passed through to commercial ratepayers.

5. Illinois Power Agency (IPA) Programs A collection of riders that fund the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates under the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and CEJA. These include:

• Renewable Energy Adjustment (REA): Funds IPA renewable energy credit procurement
• Energy Efficiency Programs (EEP): Funds ComEd's SmartIdeas business efficiency programs
• Future Build Rider: Funds advanced energy investments mandated by CEJA

6. Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA) ComEd's adjustment for its own default supply procurement costs. If you're on competitive supply, this may be partially replaced by your supplier's charges, but some components remain.

7. Franchise Cost Recovery Rider Funds the fees ComEd pays municipalities for the right-of-way to operate their distribution infrastructure.

8. Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) Administrative Charges A small fee contributing to state energy assistance programs.

9. Municipal Tax and State Excise Tax While technically separate from utility delivery charges, these taxes are applied to both supply and delivery components and are unavoidable.

Why Delivery Charges Now Outpace Supply Rates for Many Illinois Businesses

Ten years ago, for a typical ComEd commercial customer, supply charges represented 55–65% of the total bill and delivery charges represented 35–45%. In 2025, that balance has shifted for many businesses:

2025 Typical ComEd Commercial Bill Split:

• Supply charges: 40–55% of total bill
• Delivery charges (including riders): 45–60% of total bill

This shift has occurred because:

• Competitive supply rates have benefited from abundant natural gas supply (until 2025) and competitive market dynamics
• Delivery charges have grown from infrastructure investment programs, CEJA-mandated riders, and PJM transmission cost increases
• Capacity costs (which straddle supply and delivery depending on contract structure) have surged in recent years

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ComEd Non-Supply Charges 2025: How Much Have Delivery Fees Increased and Why?

Let's put real numbers to the delivery charge growth. While exact figures depend on your specific rate class and usage profile, the following benchmarks reflect average ComEd commercial delivery charge changes through the 2024–2025 period.

Year-Over-Year Delivery Charge Growth by Component

Delivery Charge Component	2023 Estimate (¢/kWh)	2025 Estimate (¢/kWh)	2-Year Change
Distribution Facilities Charge	2.1–3.5	2.6–4.2	+24%
Transmission (NITS)	1.8–2.8	2.3–3.5	+27%
Renewable Energy Adjustment	0.9–1.5	1.3–2.1	+40%
Energy Efficiency Programs	0.4–0.7	0.5–0.9	+28%
Customer Charge (flat)	—	—	+12%
Total Delivery Charges	5.4–8.7¢/kWh	7.1–11.2¢/kWh	+25–29%

Note: These are approximate benchmarks for mid-size commercial customers (E2/BES rate class). Actual charges vary by rate class, usage level, and specific riders applicable to your account.

What Is Driving Each Increase

Distribution Charges (+24%): ComEd's multi-year grid modernization investment program — approved by the ICC — authorizes annual distribution infrastructure investment recovery. Smart meters, grid automation equipment, and traditional distribution upgrades all feed into this charge.

Transmission (NITS) (+27%): PJM's investment in the regional high-voltage transmission network — needed to integrate renewables and handle data center load growth — is recovered through the NITS charge. This is a federal FERC-regulated charge and is entirely non-negotiable for ComEd customers.

Renewable Energy Adjustment (+40%): This is the fastest-growing rider on most ComEd commercial bills, driven by CEJA's escalating renewable energy procurement requirements. As the IPA procures more wind and solar RECs under the state's clean energy mandate, the cost recovery through the REA rider increases. This trajectory is programmatic — it will continue to increase through 2030 and beyond as renewable mandates ramp up.

Energy Efficiency Programs (+28%): ComEd's SmartIdeas efficiency program funding has increased as CEJA expanded the state's energy efficiency goals. While this funds rebate programs that are available to commercial customers, the program fee is mandatory for all ratepayers regardless of whether they participate.

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Supplier Rate vs. Delivery Charge: Why Switching Providers Won't Save You From Rising ComEd Costs

This is perhaps the most important point in this entire guide — and one that causes significant confusion among business owners who have switched to competitive suppliers expecting to see their bill decline.

A competitive electricity supplier controls only the supply portion of your bill. The delivery-side charges — everything listed in the previous section — are set by ComEd tariffs approved by the ICC. No matter who supplies your electricity, you pay the same delivery charges.

What Switching Suppliers Can and Cannot Do

Cost Component	Controllable via Supplier Switch?	Approach to Reduce
Energy commodity (kWh rate)	Yes	Competitive fixed supply contract
Capacity charges (PLC-based)	Yes (if included in fixed rate)	Fixed contract + PLC management
Transmission procurement	Partially (can fix some components)	Fixed all-in contract
Distribution Facilities Charge (kW)	No — but reduced by lower demand	Demand management
Transmission NITS (delivery)	No	N/A
Renewable Energy Adjustment	No	N/A
Energy Efficiency Rider	No	Participate in rebate programs
Customer Charge	No	N/A
Municipal Taxes	No	N/A

The practical implication: a business that optimizes only their supply procurement and ignores their demand management and efficiency opportunities is addressing perhaps 40–55% of their total bill while leaving 45–60% untouched.

True commercial electricity cost optimization requires a two-track approach: supply procurement optimization AND delivery-side cost management.

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How Illinois Businesses Can Reduce Their Total Electric Bill Despite Soaring ComEd Delivery Charges in 2025

The delivery charges you can't avoid are fundamentally demand-driven (the distribution facilities charge) or consumption-driven (the efficiency and renewable riders). Reducing your demand and consumption doesn't just lower your supply charges — it lowers your delivery charges too.

Strategy 1: Flatten Your Demand Profile to Reduce the Distribution Facilities Charge

The distribution facilities charge is assessed per kW of peak demand in each billing period. The strategies for reducing it are identical to those for reducing demand charges generally:

• Stagger equipment startups: Avoid the "morning spike" of simultaneous large-load equipment starts
• HVAC demand management: Install programmable controls that prevent simultaneous compressor startups across multiple AC units
• Load scheduling: Run the dishwasher after dinner service, not during peak production hours
• EV charging management: Implement smart charging controls that limit charging rate during peak demand hours

Every kW you reduce from your monthly peak measurement reduces not only your supply-side demand charges but also your delivery-side distribution facilities charge — double savings from a single operational change.

Strategy 2: Pursue Energy Efficiency to Reduce kWh-Based Rider Charges

The renewable energy adjustment, energy efficiency rider, and other per-kWh charges scale directly with your consumption. Reducing your kWh consumption by 10–15% through efficiency improvements reduces these rider charges proportionally.

Importantly, the rebate programs funded by ComEd's efficiency riders (SmartIdeas for Business) are available to help you reduce your consumption — partially "spending back" the rider cost into savings. Key rebate-eligible upgrades:

• LED lighting retrofits (60–75% rebate in some categories)
• HVAC equipment upgrades (efficiency-based rebates)
• Variable frequency drives (VFD) on motors
• Energy management systems (EMS) and building automation
• Commercial kitchen equipment upgrades

Strategy 3: Participate in Demand Response to Offset Capacity-Related Delivery Costs

Illinois demand response programs reduce your Peak Load Contribution (PLC), which drives capacity-related delivery charges. When your PLC decreases — from successful peak shaving last summer — your capacity charges decline in the following year. This benefits both your supply-side capacity charges AND the delivery-side capacity cost recovery components.

Strategy 4: Leverage Utility-Funded Energy Audits to Identify Reduction Opportunities

ComEd offers commercial energy audits for eligible businesses through its SmartIdeas program. These audits — sometimes provided at reduced or no cost — identify specific efficiency opportunities with projected savings and rebate eligibility. For businesses that haven't had an audit in 3–5 years, the ROI on audit-identified projects is almost universally compelling.

Strategy 5: Optimize Supply Procurement to Make the Best of What You Can Control

While you can't reduce delivery charges through supplier selection, you can maximize savings on the supply side — making sure that the 40–55% of your bill you can control is optimized. Work with a licensed Illinois commercial energy broker to:

• Benchmark your current supply rate against current market offers
• Assess whether your contract structure (fixed vs. index) matches your risk profile
• Time your procurement to capture favorable forward curve pricing
• Ensure your contract truly includes all supply components at a fixed rate (no hidden passthroughs)

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Conclusion: Your Total Energy Cost Strategy Must Address Both Sides of the Bill

ComEd delivery charge increases in 2025 are a structural reality that Illinois commercial businesses must build into their energy budgets and management strategies. These charges will not decrease — the investment programs and regulatory mandates driving them are multi-year commitments.

But this doesn't mean your total energy bill is beyond your control. Demand management, energy efficiency investment, and PLC optimization all directly reduce delivery-side costs. Supply procurement optimization maximizes the savings on the 40–55% of your bill that competitive markets do allow you to control.

The most successful Illinois commercial energy buyers in 2025 are the ones who've stopped thinking about "the supply rate" as the only lever and started managing their total energy cost with both eyes open — supply side and delivery side.

Contact illinoiscommercialenergy.com for a comprehensive commercial energy bill analysis. We'll break down every line item on your current bill, identify the specific levers available to reduce your total cost, and connect you with competitive supply options — at no cost to your business.

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Related Resources:

• ComEd Delivery vs. Supply: Reading the Bill
• Understanding the ComEd Purchased Electricity Adjustment (PEA)
• Decoding the ComEd Renewable Energy Adjustment
• Strategies for Small Businesses to Reduce Demand Charges in ComEd Territory

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