FAQs

Since 1984, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) has been Illinois premier nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer-advocacy group devoted to lowering your gas, electric, and telephone bills.

What is CUB Energy Saver?

CUB Energy Saver is a free online energy advisory service provided by the Illinois Citizens Utility Board (CUB). CUB Energy Saver is the first online service that provides personalized energy savings recommendations and rewards you based on how much energy you actually save!

How does CUB Energy Saver work and how do I get rewarded for saving energy?

When you reduce your monthly ComEd energy bill, you’ll earn points in our Rewards program. Points can be used for rewards from local, national, and online retailers.

How much does it cost to participate in CUB Energy Saver?

CUB Energy Saver is free for everyone! Participation is limited to customers of ComEd.

How do seasonal differences in how I use energy affect my ability to earn points

CUB Energy Saver accounts for weather and climate factors when analyzing your energy usage, so you are not penalized due to changes in season or drastic weather effects. Because your savings and points are based on comparing your bill to your past behavior and to your neighbors behavior, we control for changes in weather. This means you can still earn points regardless of weather effects. However, you can only earn points for your savings from your electricity usage. Using natural gas, fuel oil, and other fuels more efficiently should be part of your overall energy efficiency goals, but you will only receive rewards for your electricity savings.

I’m concerned about privacy and sharing my energy usage information. Can I still participate in the program?

CUB Energy Saver only reads your total kilowatt-hour (kWh) electricity usage on a monthly basis and does not share this information with anyone else. All savings recommendations are estimates based on assumptions that rely on your usage history, publicly available information, and any other information you provide.

To participate in the rewards program, you must agree to share your kWh usage data with CUB Energy Saver by linking your ComEd account.

The Home Information section on my CUB Energy Saver Settings page is already filled out. Some of the information is correct, but some of it is incorrect. What do I do?

CUB Energy Saver takes educated guesses about your household’s energy profile based on your zip code or actual address. Please edit any inaccurate information as it will help us give you better advice and track your savings more effectively. If you aren’t sure if a piece of information is correct, we recommend leaving it as it is.

How do I close my CUB Energy Saver account and leave the rewards program?

To close your CUB Energy Saver account, please write to [email protected].

I can’t seem to log in to my account on CUB Energy Saver. What should I do?

Please try resetting your password by clicking the Forgot Password link on the login page. You will receive an email with a link that you must click on to reset your password. If you still can’t login with your new password, please write to [email protected] and we’ll help you regain access your account.

How to Sign Up

Where do I go to sign up?

Visit CUBenergysaver.com and click on the green “Join Now” button. Or, directly visit the Sign Up page.

What do I need to sign up?

To sign up, you must provide your email address, your ComEd account number, along with some personal information such as your name and zip code. If you don’t have your ComEd account number handy, you can link it any time by visiting the Link Utility page on the Settings page.

How do I confirm my email address?

When we ask you to confirm your email address, visit your email address inbox and look for a confirmation email from CUB Energy Saver. The email will contain a link that you must click to finish the registration process.

I don’t have my ComEd account number right now. Can I input it later?

Yes! You do not need to link your ComEd account to your CUB Energy Saver account as soon as you sign up. You may come back later and input your ComEd account number at your convenience by visiting the Link Utility page. You will not, however, earn any points until your utility account is linked to CUB Energy Saver.

Program Eligibility

Who is eligible to sign up for the program?

Participation is limited to customers of ComEd, which services residents in the state of Illinois.

What do I need to sign up?

To sign up, you must provide your email address, your ComEd account number, along with some personal information such as your name and zip code. If you don’t have your ComEd account number handy, you can link it any time by visiting the Link Utility page on the Settings page.

I’m not a customer of ComEd. I get my electricity from a different company. Can I still participate?

Unfortunately at this time, CUB Energy Saver is available to the Citizens Utility Board’s service area, which is Illinois and only supports ComEd customers. As a customer of a different utility, you can sign up for CUB Energy Saver and customize your savings plan, however, you will not be able to link with your utility or join the rewards program. We hope and expect to support other utility customers at some point in the future. We encourage you to contact your utility to indicate your interest in the program.

Rewards

How do I earn points?

Points are awarded based on your actual monthly usage compared to your usage over the same period in the previous year normalized for changes in weather. You earn 2 points for every kWh you save compared to the previous year.

In order to earn or redeem rewards points, you must attempt to link your ComEd account.

You cannot earn more than 250 points per month.

What type of rewards are offered?

The available rewards vary from month to month. Check the Rewards page for the most up-to-date listing of what is currently being offered.

How do I redeem my points?

Visit the Rewards page to see what rewards are available. Click on the Redeem button next to the reward you would like, and read the instructions on how to get your reward.

When do I get my points?

Points are awarded based on your energy savings for the past billing period. For most ComEd customers, this happens every month, but sometimes billing cycles differ a little.

I was told if I signed up by a certain date, I would receive bonus points. Where are they?

Bonus points are awarded at the end of the promotional period. You will receive them 1-2 weeks after the stated sign up deadline.

What if I did not receive my points credit?

You can report any missing points by sending an email to [email protected]. Please note that you may have received partial credit if you reached the monthly limit of 250 points.

I run a local business and would like to become a rewards partner. How do I get involved?

Please contact us at [email protected]. There are no costs for businesses to participate in the local rewards program.

Saving Energy

Where can I find ways to save energy?

Once you are logged in to CUB Energy Saver, you can browse a variety of energy-saving actions on the Ways to Save page. Click the image or action title associated with an action to learn more about it. Categories on the left hand side of the page can help you narrow down your search depending on the time of year or your budget.

Wait, I already do a lot of these actions you recommend!

Great! Let us know by clicking either ‘I do this’ or ‘I did this’ next to the action. Clicking this button places the action into your My Actions list. Occasionally reviewing the actions in your action list will help remind you to perform these actions on a regular basis.

How is the ‘Estimated Yearly Savings’ on the Ways to Save page determined?

The ‘Estimated Yearly Savings’ for each action depends on the type of action being performed, and the energy profile of your home. For a detailed explanation of how an action’s savings number is calculated, see ‘How are savings calculated’ at the bottom of each individual action page. The action page often provides a way to further specify how you are or will be performing the action that may impact the yearly savings for the action.

Finally, for more information about your home profile which may impact savings calculation, check the Home Information section in Settings. The information about your home profile is based on educated guesses. Updating the information to be more accurate may change the savings calculations.

Why does CUB Energy Saver suggest actions that do not apply to my household?

CUB Energy Saver takes educated guesses about the ways you use energy and your lifestyle preferences. Our guesses are right more often than not, but we can’t be right all the time! Not every household fits perfectly into the profile we create for you. That means we need your help to better understand your home’s specific qualities, so the more information you tell us, the more accurate we can make our advice and tracking. Visit the Profile page to refine your energy profile and help us help you save money on your electric bill!

Where can I find energy efficient products?

Some of our energy saving suggestions involve upgrading certain features of your home, such as replacing light bulbs or purchasing a more efficient appliance. You can find our recommendations for efficient products by clicking on the Find Products link on the individual action pages.

Communities & Teams

How can I become more involved in helping my community save energy?

Have you checked out the CUB Energy Saver Community page? Click on the community tab to see how many of your neighbors are also members of CUB Energy Saver, and how much money and electricity your community has saved as a whole! You can also see how your neighborhood or town stacks up against other communities and help increase your group’s standing.

What are CUB Energy Saver teams?

CUB Energy Saver is successful when the whole community gets involved in saving energy. We seek to partner with organizations of all kinds interested in achieving their environmental goals while giving their employees or constituents information and tools to save energy and money. These “Teams†help spread the word about CUB Energy Saver, and in the process expand the benefits they provide their employees or constituents.

What are the benefits of starting a CUB Energy Saver Team?

As a Team, your group can track your members actual energy savings on their CUB Energy Saver accounts and through your own customized team page—all while bringing a proven money- and energy-saving service to them. CUB Energy Saver’s Team program is ideal for any group aiming to help people save money and protect the environment, while improving its green credentials. You can enhance your Team page with your group’s own information and images, and feature statistics (provided by us) on how well your group is doing. We will manage and host the Team page for you.

How do I start a team on CUB Energy Saver?

If you are interested in starting a team on CUB energy Saver with your community group, company, town, or school, please contact us at [email protected]. We can answer your questions and help you start your own Team.

For any additional questions, please write to [email protected].

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