Jean Gay-Robinson said she “cried tears of joy” when utility ComEd switched all the polluting gas equipment in her Chicago home to modern electric versions at no cost to her. As a retiree on a fixed income, she's relieved that she'll likely never have to buy another appliance, her energy bills are lower and her home feels safer. “I don’t have to worry about gas exploding or carbon monoxide exploding and all that nonsense,” she said.
Gay-Robinson is among hundreds of people benefiting from a provision of the Illinois Clean Energy Act of 2021 that allows electric utilities to meet energy conservation requirements, in part by outfitting low-income households with appliances that reduce their bills — even though such overhauls actually increase, rather than decrease, electricity use.
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Such policies are rare across the country, but this approach can be a tool to help continue to build decarbonization is gaining momentum as the Trump administration kills federal incentives for home electrification.
Modern appliances, such as induction furnaces, electric dryers and heat pumps that heat and cool rooms, are typically much more energy efficient than their fossil fuel-powered counterparts. That means electrifying appliances reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned even in places where gas and coal plants power the grid, said Nick Montoni, senior director of the policy and markets program at the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University. As more renewable energy comes online, appliance-related emissions fall even further.
In addition, families breathe significantly cleaner indoor air when they switch to an electric stove, due to the high levels of harmful pollutants. gas stove emissions.
But replacing appliances isn't cheap, and federal tax breaks under the Trump administration's budget law will help households afford electric heat pumps and water heaters. expires in December – seven years earlier than previously expected. Meanwhile, the future is uncertain for the federally funded Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate (HEAR) program, an Inflation Reduction Act initiative administered by states that provides incentives for purchasing appliances. While some states have already launched their HEAR programs, the Trump administration froze remaining funds earlier this year. Illinois has not yet received its allocation.
Amid this federal upheaval, state policies that incentivize utilities to pay electrification costs may be particularly effective.
“Electrification is expensive because it requires upfront costs,” said Montoni, who previously served as deputy chief of staff for the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “You have to be able to afford a heat pump, an induction cooktop, an electric water heater – it's not cheap. That's why there are rebates and incentives.”
Illinois utilities plan to electrify
Illinois law requires ComEd to annually reduce electricity use by an amount equivalent to 2% of the utility's annual sales in the early 2020s. The state's other major electric utility, Ameren, faces similar rules in 2029 under legislation passed this fall, although it has had lower savings requirements in the past.
Climate and Jobs Equity Act of 2021 indicates that part of the mandatory energy savings – 5% from 2022, 10% starting next year and 15% after 2029 – can be achieved through electrification. The law also created a formula for converting the amount of energy used by a gas appliance into electricity in kilowatt-hours, which allows you to estimate how much energy is saved when switching from gas to electric.
“So if a home is partially or fully electrified as part of an energy efficiency program, the utility claims savings by calculating the difference between gas temperatures in kilowatt-hour equivalents and kilowatt-hours.[-hours] added through electrical measures,” explained Kari Ross, a Midwest energy affordability advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Montoni called the policy “a rather interesting mechanism—not unique, but from what I’ve seen, very rare.”
Michigan actually has a similar policy in place because 2023 law allows electric and gas utilities to require electrification as part of mandatory energy waste reductions. The law also includes a formula to determine the energy efficiency gains from switching to electricity.
Montoni said allowing electric utilities to factor electrification into their efficiency mandates is an important way to encourage a shift away from fossil fuels, especially in the more than a dozen states where different utilities provide electric and gas service.
When a utility provides both gas and electricity, electrification typically results in overall energy savings, Montoni said. But when a utility produces only electricity, a formula similar to Illinois' is required to show that it is saving energy, even though that customer's electricity use actually increases after electrification.
In northern Illinois, ComEd is the primary electric utility, operating alongside two major gas companies.
Through him energy efficient whole house electrification programComEd pays all upfront costs for appliances and heat pumps for households earning at or below 80% of the area median income. Since its launch in 2022, the initiative has electrified more than 700 low-income households. offers discounts for clients of any income to purchase electrical appliances, including geothermal heat pumps.
ComEd's energy efficiency plan, approved by state regulators, states that a quarter of the energy savings from electrification must come from low-income households, and the utility can only pursue electrification if it saves customers money on their energy bills. Michigan law includes a similar provision.
“We carefully model each home to ensure that proposed upgrades will result in energy savings,” said Philip Roy, ComEd's director of clean energy solutions. “Nationally, I'm pretty sure this is one of the more ambitious approaches to electrification, especially for income-eligible consumers.”
Gay-Robinson said she saved some money on bills after overhauling her home last summer, and more importantly, she has reliable appliances to weather Chicago's extreme weather.
She recommended ComEd's overhaul to a friend who was suffering from hot summers, poor health and no air conditioning. Gay-Robinson believes the electric heating and cooling system her friend received for free may have saved her life.
Gay-Robinson said she still prefers to cook with gas, but she is grateful that ComEd provided her with new cookware along with her electric induction cooktop. “I thought it would be hard to even work with this damn stove. It looks like something from the future,” she said. “But it wasn’t as difficult as I thought.”
More modifications like the Gay-Robinson model are on the way. In an agreement with stakeholder groups and regulators, ComEd committed to spending a total of $162.3 million over the next four years on electrification and weatherization, which reduces the amount of energy needed to heat and cool spaces.
In central and southern Illinois, Ameren provides both gas and electricity.
Ameren did not pursue ambitious electrification programs like ComEd and had lower energy efficiency requirements until The Clean Energy Act passed in October. Aligned its goals with those of ComEd. But Ameren will spend $5 million through 2029 helping customers switch from propane heating, which is common in rural areas, to electric heat pumps.
Time change
Home electrification upgrades that lower energy bills may be harder to find in Illinois and beyond in the future as Electricity prices have jumped because of record high price ensuring sufficient power generation capacity for the regional PJM Interconnection network, which spans 13 states.
Because ComEd is only allowed to offer customers new appliances that will reduce their bills, high electricity prices mean that some exchanges that have operated in the past will no longer qualify; Maintaining a gas appliance may be cheaper.
“We're at a point where further iterations are needed” in electrification policy, Roy said, also citing the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs on appliance costs and the looming expiration of federal tax credits on energy-efficient equipment.
Roy noted that with solar panels and rooftop batteries, a household can use clean, free electricity to power its appliances. Illinois has strong incentives for low-income households to purchase solar power, possibly without upfront costs.
“We see a lot of momentum in these programs,” Roy said. “We think [electrification] will play a key role not only in achieving energy efficiency goals, but also in broader energy policy. By bringing all these elements together—traditional energy efficiency, electrification, rooftop solar, battery storage—we have a lot of tools, we just need to fine-tune the policy structures and incentives so we can accelerate the transition.”
