Benefiting from energy deregulation, a number of Illinois municipalities are seeing sizable energy savings because of their ability to buy power in bulk, including Belleville, Alton, Collinsville and Granite City, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The newspaper said Illinois passed a law deregulating the state's retail electric market in 1997, but the marketplace is finally in full swing, and people are taking advantage of their ability to shop for the lowest energy rates.

"Competition is finally hitting the residential marketplace with full fury," Arlene Juracek, acting director of the Illinois Power Agency, told the paper. "It means the marketplace is really working."

Morris, another town in Illinois, also is taking advantage of energy deregulation by branching out and teaming up with another energy provider, and giving its residents the ability to save approximately $200 per year in energy costs, reported the paper.

According to the Peoria Journal-Star, there are a few websites people can go to find the best rates on their energy.

Power2Switch and the Illinois Commerce Commission allow visitors to select among different electricity providers, said the paper.