Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES)

Overview

"Alternative retail electric supplier" means every person, cooperative, corporation, municipal corporation, company, association, joint stock company or association, firm, partnership, individual, or other entity, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, that offers electric power or energy for sale, lease or in exchange for other value received to one or more retail customers, or that engages in the delivery or furnishing of electric power or energy to such retail customers, and shall include, without limitation, resellers, aggregators and power marketers, but shall not include (i) electric utilities (or any agent of the electric utility to the extent the electric utility provides tariffed services to retail customers through that agent), (ii) any electric cooperative or municipal system as defined in Section 17-100 to the extent that the electric cooperative or municipal system is serving retail customers within any area in which it is or would be entitled to provide service under the law in effect immediately prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, (iii) a public utility that is owned and operated by any public institution of higher education of this State, or a public utility that is owned by such public institution of higher education and operated by any of its lessees or operating agents, within any area in which it is or would be entitled to provide service under the law in effect immediately prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, (iv) a retail customer to the extent that customer obtains its electric power and energy from that customer's own cogeneration or self-generation facilities, (v) an entity that owns, operates, sells, or arranges for the installation of a customer's own cogeneration or self-generation facilities, but only to the extent the entity is engaged in owning, selling or arranging for the installation of such facility, or operating the facility on behalf of such customer, provided however that any such third party owner or operator of a facility built after January 1, 1999, complies with the labor provisions of Section 16-128(a) as though such third party were an alternative retail electric supplier, or (vi) an industrial or manufacturing customer that owns its own distribution facilities, to the extent that the customer provides service from that distribution system to a third-party contractor located on the customer's premises that is integrally and predominantly engaged in the customer's industrial or manufacturing process; provided, that if the industrial or manufacturing customer has elected delivery services, the customer shall pay transition charges applicable to the electric power and energy consumed by the third-party contractor unless such charges are otherwise paid by the third party contractor, which shall be calculated based on the usage of, and the base rates or the contract rates applicable to, the third-party contractor in accordance with Section 16-102.

• ARES FAQ List
• Official State Newspaper - ARES
• External User Account Request Form
• 2019 ARES Annual Report Form
• Certification Application Form Instructions
• Certification Application Form
• Electric Choice/Plug In Illinois®
• Renewable Portfolio Standards for ARES
• Office of Retail Market Development
• Part 451 Certification of Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers 220 ILCS 5/16-115
• ARES License or Permit Bond Template

List of Certified Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES)

• Certified Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES)

Prospective Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers (ARES)

Questions Concerning the ARES Licensure Process

Please observe the following guidelines:

• Contacting Staff is the responsibility of the applicant.
• Questions may be directed to the following staff:
  
  
  Shea Felde
  Office of Retail Market Development
  312-814-3075
  Shea.Felde@illinois.gov