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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 procurements for 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 procurements to procure block energy, and the ICC votes to approve the results of those procurement events.
By conducting these procurements through a laddered approach—conducting two procurements 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.
The IPA’s 2025 Electricity Procurement Plan was approved by the ICC on December 19, 2024, and the Agency will hold two electricity procurements (Spring and Fall) for Ameren Illinois, ComEd, and MidAmerican Energy, and two capacity procurements (Spring and Fall) for Ameren Illinois.
The IPA will release its 2026 Electricity Procurement Plan for public comment on August 15, 2026.