KINCAD, Ill. (WCIA) — The Kincaid Food Market, formerly known as the IGA, will be shutting down on Sunday.
A post on the store’s Facebook page from Jan. 26 read in part “It is with broken hearts that we have to announce, February 5th will be our last OPEN business day. For we are closing our doors due to the rising cost of utilities and products.”
The store is selling all products on a buy one get one free basis until Feb. 5.
An employee told WCIA they “can’t pay their bills and need more people to shop locally.”
The owner of Kincaid Food Market did not want to comment on the store’s closing.
In a statement to WCIA Ameren Illinois spokesperson Tucker Kennedy said:
- Illinois is a deregulated state and customers can take their electric supply from a third party.
- Ameren Illinois is a delivery-only utility.
- If a small commercial customer switches from a third party supplier to the Basic Generation Service provided through Ameren Illinois, their overall bill amount from Ameren Illinois will increase (because Ameren Illinois is now billing for Delivery and Supply).
- When a small commercial customer receives electric supply from a third party, Ameren Illinois does not have visibility into what that customer is paying for supply because it is billed separately by the supplier.
- When a customer receives Basic Generation Service supply through Ameren Illinois, it is a pass through cost. Electricity is purchased for Ameren Illinois Basic Generation Service customers by a state agency, Ameren Illinois enters into a contract to obtain that supply for our customers at that cost, and we pass those costs on to the customer, dollar for dollar, with no mark-up or profit.
- In June of 2022, the price of energy supply spiked due to a shortage of generation in Downstate Illinois and increased demand. Supply makes up a significant portion of the monthly bill. Rising supply prices are the primary reason why Ameren Illinois customers have seen higher monthly bills during the last 8-9 months.
