Ambit Energy Illinois Basics
Illinois was the 3rd state expansion for Ambit Energy and was scheduled to launch 1st quarter of 2008 with natural gas service in the Nicor territory of greater Chicagoland. It had been less than 9a year since Ambit’s wildly successful launch into New York and expectations were high that it would be another smooth process… unfortunately expectations sometimes don’t intersect with reality.
With the Illinois expansion Ambit Energy went through a soft “prelaunch” period where we were able to recruit consultants prior to actually gathering customers. This was a great idea and truth is it worked magnificently. I’ll never forget on the snowy Thursday just a week before Christmas of 2007 I attended a special meeting at the Hyatt Regency with our co-founders Jere Thompson & Chris Chambless flying in as special guests. The room was huge… setup for 300 people. By the time people stopped flocking in, the room was packed with an estimated 550 people. In my 13 year network marketing career I’ve never seen anything like it. As one of only two Executive Consultants in the room I came up for a testimonial and it took a full minute just to get to the front of the room.
That was the highlight of the Illinois launch and oh what a highlight it was, but when the Illinois Commerce Commission did not initially approve Ambit’s license to do business, everything came to a screeching halt in early 2009 right at about the same time we were supposed to go live. It took several more months before the license was finally approved but the damage had been done and momentum had completely halted. It took a long while for business to recover but thanks to the perseverance of some strong leaders Ambit slowly recovered and established a strong presence in the Chicagoland area.
With the recent rate caps on electricity being phased out, Ambit Energy has added electricity service in the ComEd (summer 2011) and Ameren (fall 2012) territories and continues to expand it’s natural gas coverage to include the Peoples and North Shore Gas territories. Having the combination of natural gas and electricity has helped bring full blown momentum to the Illinois marketplace. Ambit Energy Illinois certainly has experienced it’s share of setbacks but there has never been a better time to get to work than now.
Ambit Energy Meetings & Events in Illinois
As you can see by the map below, we have a full slate of ongoing business presentation meetings taking place all over Illinois. For complete details, see PowerZone if you are a consultant or contact your referring consultant for details if you not yet enrolled with Ambit Energy.
View Illinois Ambit Energy Business Presentations in a larger map
Ambit Energy’s Illinois Coverage Map
Ambit Energy is currently able to service customer of the following utility companies within the state of Illinois…
- NICOR provides gas to the northern third of the state, excluding the city of Chicago
- ComEd provides electricity to most of the northern region of the state
These 2 unique service territories combine to cover most of the greater Chicagoland area. There are some small cities and areas within these coverage areas that Ambit does not service which is usually a result of the utilities in a small town/city being owned by the actual city itself and thus being exempt from deregulation.
New Expansion Announced for November 15th, 2012 – Ameren Electric!
Ambit’s map above has not been updated yet to include this expansion but as you can see by the map below, the Ameren territory of Illinois encompasses most of lower 2/3 of the state that is currently missing from Ambit Illinois coverage!
New Expansion Announced for September 20th, 2012 – North Shore & Peoples Gas
Ambit’s map above has not been updated yet to include this expansion but essentially these two territories will turn the two orange spots green on Ambit’s map above.
Future Ambit Energy Illinois Expansions?
There are a few smaller natural gas and electric territories left within Illinois that Ambit has yet to open up but these are not significant and I honestly don’t expect Ambit to worry about them in the near term future. With what we currently have Ambit Energy can service the vast majority of Illinois.
Ambit Energy Illinois – Customer Basics
Service Reliability, Storm Outage & Customer Service
Many people are worried they will receive inferior service or be last on the block to get their electricity restored during a storm outage. I often have to fight back the urge to laugh at the question, but simply put the answer is a resounding… NO.
Straight from the Illinois Commerce Commission…
Who do I call if my power goes out? You continue to call your electric utility for any and all technical problems. The utility is still responsible for the safe, reliable delivery of the electricity you purchase, whether you purchase your electricity from the utility or a supplier.
So whether you like or hate the service you’ve received from your local utility company it will not change one iota because your local utility provider (ComEd, Ameren, etc…) will continue to provide all services related to delivery which include reading your meter, taking care of repairs during a storm outage and even billing… so the only thing that changes is the price you pay.
Ambit Energy Illinois Service Plans – Variable, Fixed, Green & Commercial
Standard Variable – This is a non-contract plan offering a competitive price per kWh that changes on a monthly basis based on moving market conditions. This plan really doesn’t make any sense in most cases simply because of the unique nature of our next plan…
Standard Fixed – We also offer contract/term plans that lock in a set per kWh for a 12 month period so that consumers can achieve price security. Normally contract/term plans with other companies carry what’s called an ETA (early termination fee) to prevent customers from switching to a competitor or cancelling within the contract period. Ambit Energy does NOT tack on such a fee in Illinois so essentially there is no reason a customer should not choose the contract/term plan because with Ambit Energy they get the price security of a contract with the flexibility of a variable plan.
Green Variable & Fixed – Ambit’s Green-e certified plans are essentially identical to the non-green plans in all aspects except price. Green plans from any company are always going to be more expensive because REC’s (renewable energy certificates) must be purchased to offset the usage. It is not possible to actually control the electrons so customers on a green plan actually get green energy so Ambit Energy uses Green-e certified REC’s which have independent verification to ensure the extra money you pay for a green plan gets properly directed to local renewable energy initiatives in Illinois.
Commercial – Ambit offers standard variable & fixed along with green variable & fixed plans for small commercial customers. Additional details can be found within Ambit Energy’s Illinois Small Commercial Fact Sheet.
Ambit Energy Illinois Rates
Our rates vary by individual territory and change regularly so it’s not possible to keep up-to-date rates on this page but one thing you can count on is that Ambit is committed to providing a discount compared to the default utility provider. Taking ComEd as an example, if their rates go up that means our rates will likely go up but not as much, their rates go down we will go down a bit farther. There may be a short adjustment period in a changing marketplace but as a general rule Ambit will always price below the default utility provider which in this example is ComEd. On the other hand it is not possible to always be priced the cheapest among the entire array of deregulated energy supply companies that we compete with on a head to head basis but we will always be priced below what most consumers are comparing against. Click here to check current Ambit Energy rates.
Ambit Energy Illinois Billing
As a licensed energy supply company in the state of Illinois, Ambit Energy is not involved in the delivery process, which includes the billing. What this means is you will continue to receive the same bill from the same local utility company except after switching to Ambit Energy you will notice a line item notation on the supply portion of the bill indicating Ambit Energy as your new energy supply company.
A Highlight of Ambit’s Value Proposition in Illinois
- No Deposits or Credit Checks – Switching your service over to Ambit Energy in Illinois does not require you to hand over any personal information. Your utility account number and basic contact information is all we need.
- Nothing Changes – Switching to Ambit Energy does not negatively affect anything regarding the service, reliability or billing of your electricity or natural gas. The only noticeable change will be a line-item notation on your existing bill indicating Ambit Energy as your new energy supply/generation company.
- Fixed Rate Security & Variable Rate Flexibility – You will NOT find a cancellation fee tacked onto any of our fixed rate plans which means you can lock in our low rates without worrying about any “gotcha” fees if you need to cancel early. This means you don’t need to debate between a fixed or variable rate plan, with Ambit Energy Illinois you get the best of both worlds!
- Green-e Certified – Not all green energy is the same! Ambit Energy is Green-e certified which ensures your dollars are going to help local renewable energy efforts in Illinois!
- Proven Track Record – In business since 2006, Ambit Energy is #1 on Inc.500 for 2010, has a BBB A rating, a member in good standing with the DSA and savings verified by the consumer watchdog group Citizens Utility Board.
Questions, comments, corrections or additions?
We’ve done our best to compile all the important info regarding Ambit Energy Illinois but if you have any thoughts to add or anything you think worth sharing please do so in the comments below.
Wishing you all the best,
Shawn Cornett
Ambit Energy Founding Executive Consultant
Top 20 Income Earner
Six Time 5-Star Club Qualifier
Pacesetter, Powersurge & Pure Energy Award Winner
(210) 232-6032
ambitpros@gmail.com