Actually, the idea is more to educate than to switch at this point. But effective May 1, residential customers of the major investor-owned utilities - including AMERENCIPS, CENTRAL ILLINOIS LIGHT CO. and ILLINOIS POWER in central Illinois - join business customers in the ability to choose suppliers based on price.

Utilities and companies that would like to serve as alternative suppliers are required to include informational inserts in monthly bills as part of the transition.

Residential customers are the last group included by a 1997 state reform law that was intended to encourage free-market competition and lower energy costs. Business customers have been free to choose a power supplier based on price since December 2000.

Municipally owned utilities, such as City Water, Light and Power in Springfield, were not included in the law.

But few in the industry expect wholesale changes, at least not right away. As one central Illinois utility executive put it: "You're probably not going to see a real rush to switch."

There has been switching among businesses, especially in the northern Illinois territory of the former Commonwealth Edison. But overall the first year of the free-market experiment has fallen short of expectations.

Some blame the utilities. Others fault the power shortages that resulted from California deregulation. And, now, the Enron mess is said to have made companies jittery about switching power suppliers.

Basically, it's akin to the days following the break-up of the old AT&T phone monopoly. Customers get use to the same phone company, the same utility. The idea of switching takes some getting used to.

The Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates the state's utilities, has launched a "Plug in Illinois" educational campaign, including a Web site, www.icc.state.il.us/pluginIllinois.