Oct. 16--It seemed too good to be true in 1997 when then-Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar signed a bill to deregulate the state's retail electricity markets.

Customers across the state would get almost immediate rate cuts, providing relief from some of the highest electricity prices in the nation. And by May 2002, they would be free to choose their power supplier, ushering in a new era of lower prices and innovative services.

Today, seven years after the supposed start to the era of consumer choice in the Illinois electricity market, residential customers remain tethered to their electric utilities -- a point reinforced by some customers who showed up at a recent public hearing in the Metro East to speak out against Ameren's proposed $226 million rate increase.

"It's grossly unfair that we have no option here for service," said Darlene Pursell of Collinsville.

That may be about to change.

Bob Porter, vice president of North American sales for Chicago-based BlueStar Energy Services Inc., which sells electricity to business customers in Illinois and other states, says Ameren's residential customers in Illinois will have a choice of electric suppliers by yearend.

Porter wouldn't elaborate on the statement, or confirm that his company is prepared to begin offering service to Ameren

customers. But BlueStar is one of just four electric suppliers registered to do business in Ameren's service area and is "definitely looking at the market," he said.

State Rep. Thomas Holbrook, D-Belleville, likewise thinks downstate Illinois is on the verge of seeing residential competition.

"Do I think it's going to happen? Yes," said Holbrook, chairman of the House Energy and Environment committee and vice chairman of the Public Utilities Committee. "Do I think it's going to happen in the near future? Yes. I think in the next six months to a year, you're going to see some movement."

Holbrook was a co-sponsor of two bills in 2007 that were specifically aimed at encouraging electric suppliers to offer service to residential and small business customers, not just big commercial and industrial customers.

One of the bills led to new rules that take effect in Ameren's service area Saturday. It was based on policies used in the state of New York to help stimulate residential electric competition.

The rules require Ameren to bill customers who buy electricity from a competing provider. The St. Louis-based utility would also have responsibility for collecting past due bills and disconnecting customers with delinquent accounts.