IPA's Competitive Electricity Procurement Process

Each year, the IPA develops an Electricity Procurement Plan, which is then approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). The Electricity Procurement Plan provides a roadmap for how the IPA will run competitive procurement of electricity for residential and small commercial customers of ComEd, Ameren Illinois, and MidAmerican Energy who do not take their energy supply from an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES) or participate in real-time pricing programs. The IPA then administers procurement events for block energy, and the ICC votes to approve the results of those events.

By conducting these procurement events through a laddered approach—conducting two events each year, beginning three years in advance of a delivery year—the IPA ensures that eligible retail customers, which are those residential and small commercial customers of Illinois electricity utilities who do not take supply from another source, receive reliable, affordable, and stably priced electricity service. 

Visit the IPA's Electricity Procurement Plan page to stay informed of recent activities related to the Plan.

A calendar of procurement events can be found on the Procurement Administrator website.