CUB Battles Archives | Citizens Utility Board

Heading into 2026, CUB names biggest threats to utility bills

Jim Chilsen — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:18:11 +0000

Based on its experience combatting high utility costs over the past year, the consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Illinois has issued its list of what looks to be major threats to utility affordability in 2026. “As consumers struggle with high prices across the board for everyday necessities like groceries and health care, escalating utility costs just make their lives more difficult,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “We think it’s important to identify the biggest culprits for rising energy bills, so consumers can be empowered to work for solutions.” Runaway Data Center Energy Demand. Unprecedented energy demand connected to data centers was the primary cause of a 45-50 percent spike in electricity prices for Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois customers in the summer of 2025. Elevated prices will remain a problem in 2026, and customers face even higher bills and rolling blackouts in the years to come if decisive action isn’t taken in Springfield and at PJM Interconnection, the power grid operator for northern Illinois and all or part of a dozen other states. CUB has written about state and regional reforms that could rein in data centers. Rate-hike-hungry utilities. Major electric and gas utilities—ComEd, Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas—have pushed for billions of dollars in rate hikes on the “delivery” section of bills in recent years. Under utility regulation, gas and electric companies earn a return on their infrastructure investments, incentivizing them to spend aggressively and push for rate hikes. The current Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has shown more sensitivity toward customer affordability in recent years, and consumer advocates have helped slash rate-hike requests significantly. But for far too many customers, any rate hike is difficult. Bad alternative supplier deals. Many Illinois consumers are allowed to choose a company other than their utility to supply them with electricity or gas, but the market is littered with bad deals. For example, CUB’s review of state data in 2025 found that Illinois electricity customers have lost more than $2.1 billion to alternative suppliers over the last 10 years. The utility’s supply price is likely your best bet. Also, consider a community solar offer. Volatile energy markets. After a period of relative stability, Illinois consumers have been hit by skyrocketing gas prices in recent years. Analysts have predicted that prices could grow more volatile as increasing volumes of fuel are exported through liquefied natural gas facilities. In December, eight of Illinois’ nine utilities are charging supply prices that are higher than last December, by a range of 10 percent to 63 percent, according to a CUB review. Escalating water bills. Illinois American and Aqua Illinois—the state’s two biggest private water utilities—have spent more than $411 million buying up public water systems since 2013. And under state law, they can charge customers for 100 percent of those acquisition costs. CUB is working for a legislative reform that would require shareholders, and not everyday consumers, to shoulder the majority of those costs. Learn more about this issue at CUBWaterTracker.com. (Note: The parent companies of Aqua and Illinois American have announced plans to merge.) Inefficient homes. The federal […]

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Regulatory opinion favors cutting Ameren gas rate hike by $44 million, half the reduction consumers are due, watchdogs say

Elizabeth — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 15:51:53 +0000

A $128.8 million gas rate hike proposed by Ameren Illinois would shrink by about one-third, under a recommendation pending before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). But consumer advocates said Thursday that state regulators should cut much deeper when they issue a final ruling on the threat of another stinging increase in heating bills that comes as Ameren profits have been booming. [Sign CUB’s petition against the Ameren rate hike.] Gas affordability has become such a concern that on Nov. 1, weeks before the ICC’s final ruling in the rate case, several advocacy groups plan to hold a forum to discuss a decade of chronic gas rate hikes from Ameren and the future of gas utilities in Illinois. After a summer when Ameren customers also dealt with skyrocketing electricity prices, the utility’s proposed increase in heating bills would be its fourth in seven years, exacerbating a pattern that has caused its gas delivery rates to spiral by $202 million, or 50 percent, during that period. It would also generate another lucrative cash infusion for both Ameren’s gas segment and the utility’s parent company, which have recorded staggering profit increases of 112 percent and 45 percent, respectively, over the same period. In the latest development in the gas rate case, an opinion, known as a “Proposed Order,” that was submitted to the ICC late last week by administrative law judges advises the ICC to trim $43.7 million from Ameren’s hefty rate hike. Consumer and environmental advocates have collectively urged the ICC to wield a much sharper axe to Ameren’s haul, arguing that it should be slashed by the maximum the law permits, roughly $82 million, at least. “The regulatory judges’ Proposed Order reinforces that Ameren’s rate hike is significantly inflated and must be cut, but it still falls short of giving consumers their just due,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “By accounting for only about half the unwarranted costs Ameren has proposed, we hope this opinion is a catalyst for the ICC to police even harder against the excesses still embedded in this rate hike. With winter looming and the fallout from rising energy prices already afflicting households across Illinois, consumers are depending on state regulators to act as the strongest possible bulwark against Ameren’s profiteering.” “We applaud the recommendation to cut Ameren’s proposed rate hike by more than $40 million,” said Illinois PIRG Director Abe Scarr. “But utility regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission can do more to limit the impact of Ameren fourth rate hike since 2018.” “The proposed order takes some steps to hold Ameren accountable to reduce costs for consumers, but we urge the Commission to adopt more affordable and effective approaches that could drive costs down even further,” said Curt Stokes, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “Going forward, regulators should prioritize proven, practical solutions like the zonal electrification pilot—not waste funds on ineffective efforts like Ameren’s renewable natural gas proposal.” Ameren, which has 816,000 gas customers in Central and Southern Illinois, originally proposed a $134 million rate hike in January — a sum that has been pared slightly to $128.8 million in its current filing with the […]

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CUB’s 2025 State Capitol agenda: Fighting high bills, ridiculous charges, secret votes and supplier overcharges

Jim Chilsen — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:50:52 +0000

By Bryan McDaniel CUB’s Director of Governmental Affairs The thing about consumer advocates is that we never give up. That’s why year after year, we’re advocating for strong, pro-consumer policy in the halls of the State Capitol. Here’s a summary of what we’re working on. Senate Bill 75: The Water Affordability Act The 2025 session is off to a fast start for consumers with the assignment of SB 75, the Water Affordability Act, to a Senate Committee. CUB helped to introduce the bill along with Sen. Laura Murphy. It’s never easy to pass good consumer legislation in Springfield and this bill will be no different–we face stiff opposition from Aqua Illinois and Illinois American Water, which just received rate hikes. The legislation would end the Qualifying Infrastructure Plant (QIP) surcharge, which allows water utilities to raise rates more quickly, and it would require shareholders to pay the majority of the price tag when a utility purchases a water or sewer system. Under current law, Aqua and Illinois American can charge customers for 100 percent of those costs. Take Action: Urge Springfield to Pass the Water Affordability Act (SB 75) Senate Bill 1275: The Utility Transparency Act CUB has worked with Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton to have SB 1275, the Utility Transparency Act, introduced again this year. The measure follows similar legislation passed in Colorado, Maine, and Connecticut that helped reduce certain ridiculous expenses utilities can recover from ratepayers. The measure here in Illinois would prohibit investor-owned private utilities like ComEd, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas, Ameren and Illinois American Water from charging customers for these expenses: Memberships in trade associations that push their agenda; Work devoted to political issues campaigns, such as referendums; Pricey insurance the utilities buy to protect their shareholders; Goodwill advertising that enhances a utility’s image and benefits shareholders; Outside lawyers and experts when a utility pushes for a rate hike. Needless to say, the utilities aren’t excited about this bill. Ratepayers should not be paying to enhance utility political power and utility efforts to raise rates. SB 1275 is a commonsense measure. Take Action: Urge Springfield to Pass the Utility Transparency Act (SB 1275) House Bill 1284: Electric and Gas Customer Protection Act Market reports, based on alternative supplier rate data submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), continue to show that consumers with alternative electric suppliers have suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, compared with the utility price. HB 1284, sponsored by Rep. Kimberly Du Buclet, features two critical consumer protections that will help to ensure Illinois electric and gas markets are working as intended for consumers. The bill would: require a customer signature if the supplier wants to increase its rate at the time of auto renewal; prohibit supplier agents from being paid on commission. CUB is tired of meeting consumers being charged double and even triple the utility price. It’s wrong, and it needs to end. HB 1284 would go a long way towards helping. Take Action: Support the Electric and Gas Customer Protection Act (HB 1284) House Bill 1802: Electric Utility Accountability HB 1802 , sponsored by Rep Joyce Mason, is an […]

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Casework Roundup: Enough! Gas utility pushes for record rate hike

Elizabeth — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 21:56:19 +0000

The ink was barely dry on rate hikes granted electric and water utilities in 2024 when Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois proposed new gas increases for 2025—including one that would be the largest gas increase in Illinois history. Also, Peoples Gas has filed papers with state regulators indicating it might push for a rate hike. We’ll update you if they officially file for an increase. Here’s a summary of news at the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC): Nicor: In January, Nicor requested a $309 million increase–what would be the largest gas hike in Illinois history. Nicor has received four rate hikes—totaling $724 million—since 2018. This new request would jack up delivery rates by more than 20%. CUB’s reaction: “Nicor’s push for a ridiculous 10.35% Return on Equity (ROE), or profit rate for shareholders, exposes this rate-hike request for what it is: A money-grab meant to benefit shareholders to the detriment of customers who just want to keep their homes warm.” Ameren: Ameren also filed for a gas rate hike. At press time, the utility hadn’t revealed the full amount of its request, but said it would increase delivery rates by 20-28%. Ameren has won $111 million in gas hikes over the last few years: $76 million in 2021 and $35.2 million in 2023. CUB’s reaction: “This increase would be a hardship for many Ameren customers. We urge the ICC to reduce the utility’s wasteful spending and hold it accountable to its customers.” Illinois American, Aqua (water): On Nov. 21, the ICC OK’d an $11.6 million rate hike for Aqua Illinois, about 40% less than what the utility had wanted. On Dec. 5, the ICC approved a $110 million rate hike for Illinois American Water, about 28% less than what the company had originally requested. In total, the two increases were cut by about $50 million. CUB’s reaction: “We are relieved Illinois American and Aqua didn’t get the rate hikes they wanted, but we are still concerned about the increases. The ICC’s rulings give new urgency to CUB’s push to reform privatization laws that water utilities use to plunder their customers.” ComEd, Ameren (electric): On Dec. 19, the ICC OK’d multi-year rate hikes for Commonwealth Edison and Ameren. CUB and other consumer advocates secured a total of about $1.8 billion in savings for electricity customers, but the utilities still won rate hikes: $606 million for ComEd, adding to the $500 million it got in 2023; and $309 million for Ameren, adding to the $56 million it received in 2023. These hikes will be spread out over four years through 2027, to cover costs to maintain/improve the power grid, plus a profit. CUB’s reaction: “It’s a step in the right direction that the ICC has cut wasteful spending by hundreds of millions of dollars, reduced the utilities’ proposed rate hikes by a total of about $95 million and held their profit rate for shareholders to about 8.9% for ComEd and 8.7%, for Ameren, down from the ridiculous 10.5-10.65% the utilities had proposed in their first grid plans. But an increase of any kind is difficult to bear for far too many customers. We […]

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CUB Urges ICC to Cut Ameren Rate-Hike Request

Elizabeth — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:04:29 +0000

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) pushed back on a recommendation by state regulatory judges that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) grant Ameren Illinois an electric rate hike of $315 million, saying the judges had overlooked key examples of overspending by the utility. The Proposed Order, submitted on Oct. 8 by three ICC Administrative Law Judges, granted the utility more than 90 percent of the $334 million Ameren had requested. On Tuesday, CUB planned to file a brief asking the ICC to take a stronger stance to protect customers from unnecessary Ameren spending. “The Proposed Order is disappointing, given the fact that CUB had identified roughly $100 million in overcharges in the utility’s original request,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “We urge the five-member ICC to hold Ameren accountable, remove wasteful spending and slash Ameren’s rate hike.” Take action: Sign CUB’s petition against reckless electric utility spending. File a public comment with the ICC. The ICC is scheduled to make a final ruling on the case (Docket 24-0238) before the end of the year. The five commissioners can follow the proposed order or adjust the rate hike up or down, as they see fit. This is the latest development in a dramatic series of events dating back to last December, when the ICC slashed the company’s proposed rate-hike request and rejected the utility’s plan for updating the power grid. Commissioners said Ameren had failed to prove that the plan would be affordable for consumers. Earlier this year, Ameren refiled its grid plan as well as a multi-year plan for raising rates. After some adjustments over the course of the case, Ameren is now proposing to raise rates by $334 million through 2027. In August, CUB filed testimony identifying about $100 million in overcharges in Ameren’s proposed rate hike. CUB identified hundreds of millions of dollars in wasteful or improper spending proposed by Ameren, with a portion to be recovered through the current rate-hike request, and the rest recovered over decades to come. A summary of key parts of CUB’s testimony: The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) requires a showing of cost-effectiveness for each project included in Ameren’s grid plan. But Ameren only applied cost-benefit analysis to projects representing roughly one-fifth of total costs, CUB argued. The watchdog proposed to require Ameren to calculate benefits for every project it can and compare that to costs. Projects would only be approved if benefits exceed costs, or if they’re strictly legally or practically required. CEJA requires that delivery service rates be affordable. But Ameren misled about its huge rate-hike request by comparing delivery service rate increases to total electric bills, or even total household energy costs (including volatile heating gas costs). CUB argued that by dividing the relevant number by a larger category of costs, the utility made its proposed rate hike look smaller than it actually was and tried to skirt CEJA. CUB proposed that the ICC compare apples to apples and, if delivery service rates under the proposed grid plans would grow too fast relative to forecasted inflation, decrease Ameren’s rate hike accordingly to slow the rate of spending. CUB urged regulators to make utility shareholders, not customers, foot Ameren’s […]

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CUB identifies millions in overcharges, wasteful spending in utility grid plans

Elizabeth — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 15:22:01 +0000

As Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois push to raise rates to upgrade the power grid, CUB has filed expert testimony and briefs, identifying overcharges and wasteful spending in the companies’ proposed plans. Take action: Sign our petition urging the ICC to rein in Ameren and ComEd. File a public comment with the ICC about the new ComEd and Ameren grid plans. You can also call the ICC, at 1-800-524-0795. In a positive development last December, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) rejected the grid plans and slashed the rate hikes proposed by ComEd and Ameren, arguing that the companies had not proven that their plans would be affordable to consumers, as mandated by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The companies in March of this year came back with new plans–and rate-hike proposals. ComEd, the largest electric utility in the state, is pushing for a $1.1 billion increase in delivery rates (ICC Docket No. 24-0181) and Ameren Illinois wants a $334 million delivery rate hike (ICC Docket No. 24-0238). Some background: The rate-hike requests originally were meant to be spread out over four years. However, after the ICC rejected the grid pans last December, only partial rate hikes took effect in the new year. The utilities’ new rate-hike requests–$1.1 billion for ComEd and $321 million for Ameren–are connected to their new grid plans. These increases would take effect after the ICC issues a final ruling in December, and would be spread out over the remaining three years, through 2027. In expert testimony filed this past summer, CUB found about $89 million in overcharges proposed by ComEd and about $101 million proposed by Ameren Illinois. CUB also filed briefs in August and September. To give you an idea of the scope of these cases, the utilities have proposed billions of dollars in spending, with a portion to be recovered through the current rate-hike requests, and the rest recovered over decades to come. A summary of CUB’s arguments across both utilities: The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) requires a showing of cost-effectiveness for each project included in the companies’ grid plans. But ComEd and Ameren only applied cost-benefit analysis to projects representing roughly one-fourth and one-fifth of total costs, respectively. CUB proposes to instead require the utilities to calculate benefits for every project it can and compare them to costs. Projects would only be approved if benefits exceed costs, or if they’re strictly legally or practically required. CEJA requires that delivery service rates be affordable. But Ameren and ComEd mislead about their huge rate-hike requests by comparing delivery service rate increases to total electric bills, or even total household energy costs (including volatile heating gas costs). By dividing the relevant number by a larger category of costs, the utilities make their proposed rate hikes look smaller than they actually are and try to skirt CEJA. CUB proposes that the ICC compare apples to apples and, if delivery service rates under the proposed grid plans would grow too fast relative to forecasted inflation, decrease the utilities’ rate hikes accordingly to slow the rate of spending. Urges regulators to make utility shareholders, […]

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Casework Roundup: A report from CUB’s General Counsel

Jim Chilsen — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:54:46 +0000

By Eric DeBellis CUB General Counsel As usual, we’re busy juggling a heavy caseload before the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) concerning the state’s biggest utilities: ComEd, Ameren, Peoples Gas, Illinois American and Aqua Illinois. Here’s a summary of where we’re at: Electric Cases Background: Back in December, the ICC slashed the ComEd and Ameren Illinois rate-hike requests by 65 percent and 87 percent, respectively. The ICC also rejected the companies’ grid plans, for failing to prove that they would be cost-effective and affordable, as required by the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), groundbreaking state energy legislation CUB supports. The latest: Both utilities filed petitions challenging the ICC’s December rulings and trying to claw back some of the rate-hike requests they were denied. Big thanks to the Illinois consumers who contributed more than 780 signatures against higher ComEd and Ameren rates. Those cases will be decided in May, and CUB hopes the companies don’t get unfair rate hikes. In mid-March, the two companies re-filed their grid plans, after months of back and forth between the utilities and other parties to the case, including CUB. We’re now reading through hundreds of pages of those grid plans, and we plan to file testimony in May, pushing back on unnecessary spending proposed by the utilities. The ICC will rule on the grid plans by the end of the year. What you can do? Please sign a new CUB petition urging the ICC to hold the utilities’ accountable to the CEJA requirement that they file responsible grid plans that are affordable and benefit consumers more than they cost them. Gas Cases Background: On Nov. 16, Peoples Gas received a state-record increase, but the total was about $100 million less than what the company wanted. Plus, the company’s pipeline-replacement project (System Modernization Program), which has helped spark a heating-affordability crisis in Chicago, was paused for regulators to investigate whether it was being properly managed. Other major utilities–Ameren Illinois, Nicor Gas and North Shore Gas–received rate hikes also on Nov. 16, but they too received less than they wanted. The latest: The gas companies filed petitions for rehearing, but the ICC rejected all of them except Peoples Gas. In that case, Peoples was granted a rehearing on a narrow set of issues, which could lead to $7.9 million being added to the company’s record rate hike. Consumer advocates are urging the ICC to reject Peoples Gas’ request. An ICC judge sided with the utility and recommended higher rates, but the ICC is expected to make a final ruling at the end of May. In related news: The ICC has launched the probe of Peoples Gas’ dysfunctional pipeline-replacement program (Docket 24-0081). The investigation is expected to conclude in early 2025. The ICC has ICC begun its “Future of Gas” proceeding (Docket 24-0158), which regulators called for during the rate-case rulings last November. The proceedings are designed to begin a discussion among utilities, policymakers, regulators and consumer advocates on how policy needs to change as the market moves away from fossil fuels. “As the State embarks on a journey toward a 100 percent clean energy economy, the […]

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CUB calls on ICC to reject record rate hike for Peoples Gas after agency official recommends big increase for utility

Elizabeth — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:54:46 +0000

An administrative law judge for the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has issued a “proposed order” recommending that the ICC approve a record-high $350 million rate hike for Peoples Gas, awarding the company the vast bulk — 87 percent —of the $402 million increase it has sought from regulators. The recommended rate hike would shatter the previous state record for a gas utility – $240 million granted to Nicor in 2021 – by $110 million. The ICC is expected to rule on the rate hike proposal in November or December, but the recommendation by the administrative law judge represents a glaring warning of the hardships Chicago families face if regulators don’t favor a more equitable outcome. Under the proposed order, annual average costs for Peoples’ customers would surge by an estimated $120. This would compound the impacts of the soaring surcharges the utility has assessed on its customers over the past decade to bankroll its wasteful pipe-replacement program. As the Commission prepares to rule on the rate hike, Peoples has tallied six consecutive years of record profits. Meanwhile the fixed costs for the average consumer – meaning the amount they pay before ever consuming a trace of gas to heat their homes and cook their food – has increased exponentially to approximately $50 a month. As a result, nearly 20 percent of Peoples customers were more than 30 days behind on the bills as of August, and the highest rates of debts have been concentrated in ZIP codes with predominantly lower-income Black and Brown populations. In response to the Friday, Oct. 6, proposed order by the ICC administrative law judge, Citizens Utility Board made the following statement: At a time when Peoples Gas has recorded six straight years of record profits, and the spiraling costs of its fixed monthly charges have left nearly one in five of its customers floundering in debt, ICC Commissioners have the opportunity to police against a grossly unfair and record-setting $402 million rate hike the company has requested. As part of that careful oversight, the ICC should reject this latest recommendation by the agency’s administrative law judge, which would amount to business as usual for Peoples. It would inflict crippling new costs on embattled Chicago families, exacerbate racial inequities afflicting Black and Brown customers, and reward Peoples for a disgraced pipe-replacement program that auditors have faulted for habitual waste and mismanagement. The time has come to hold Peoples Gas accountable for its decade-long spending spree on the discredited pipe-replacement initiative. The projected cost of the program has skyrocketed from an original estimate of $2 billion to a staggering $11 billion, while the resulting fixed costs on the average Peoples bill has ballooned to about $50 per month. And now Peoples wants a record rate hike so that it can fling more money down this black hole, with expenditures on pipe-replacement accounting for about half of the $402 million increase it is seeking from the consumers. We urge Commissioners to exercise this authority and draw the line on Peoples’ relentless profit-mongering. In the interest of affordability, racial equity, and accountability, it should deny the company’s record rate hike. Read a […]

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Regulators say NO to Peoples, Nicor Gas

Elizabeth — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 11:25:04 +0000

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has ordered a $15.4 million refund for Peoples Gas customers and most recently a refund of more than $31 million for Nicor Gas customers, two votes that may signal a tougher stance towards utilities whose rampant spending has helped spark a heating-affordability crisis in Illinois. Of course, the utilities have vowed to fight the decisions in court. The Peoples Gas refund, ordered on May 18, was connected to a decision by the utility in 2017 to halt disconnections while installing a new billing system. The ICC ruled that the move led to an excessive rise in bad-debt costs. If a utility can’t collect past-due debt from customers, state law allows them to eventually pass those long-term “uncollectibles” costs onto all customers in the form of a surcharge. But the ICC reviews these costs to make sure the utilities did everything possible to keep that debt under control. In this case, the ICC voted unanimously that Peoples Gas had to refund $15.4 million of the uncollectibles recovery costs it had gotten from customers in 2018. The vote in favor of the refund actually went against the recommendation of the ICC staff and an ICC administrative law judge. The amount is set to be refunded over nine months beginning in September, but the issue could end up before the Illinois Appeals Court. In the Nicor case, the ICC ruled in June that the utility improperly charged customers $31 million in infrastructure spending in 2019. The money was collected through the controversial Qualified Infrastructure Plant (QIP) surcharge on gas bills, and the ICC ruling marked the first time regulators determined Nicor may have misspent money collected through the QIP. The surcharge, which was created by state law in 2013, will sunset at the end of this year, and consumer advocates have opposed it for years, arguing it has sparked rapidly rising gas bills. Under the law, the ICC reviews how utilities spend these surcharges that are meant to cover the cost of system upgrades, plus a profit, but can disallow spending it deems inappropriate. The Nicor vote was the latest action that may signal new commissioners recently appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are ready to take a tougher, pro-consumer stance when dealing with utilities. Another example came as part of Peoples Gas’ record $402 million rate-hike request: The ICC pushed the utility to answer more questions about its troubled pipeline-replacement program. (In a recent news release with Illinois PIRG, CUB criticized the company for not answering the ICC’s questions.) Reporting on the ICC refund vote, Crain’s Chicago Business wrote that “the surprisingly harsh ruling signals that commissioners are losing patience with Peoples. Chicagoans’ heating bills have been rising relentlessly for years, in large part due to the costs of Peoples’ multibillion-dollar (pipeline-replacement) program to update all of Chicago’s gas pipes. More than one-fifth of residential customers are over 30 days behind on their gas bills, according to Peoples’ filings with the ICC.” In March, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced three new members of the ICC: Chairman Doug Scott, Conrad Reddick and Stacey Paradis. Scott, a former legislator and Mayor of […]

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Legal update: CUB testimony on record rate hikes urges $1.6 billion in reductions

Elizabeth — Fri, 26 May 2023 16:39:31 +0000

By: Eric DeBellis General Counsel CUB’s legal team has been working nonstop the past month, filing expert testimony with state regulators to oppose a record six utility rate hikes, exposing the proposed increases as unjust and unreasonable and urging state regulators to cut them by a combined total of at least $1.6 billion. Below is a summary of what Regulatory Counsel Laura Loyd and I and a team of experts have done over the past month. Consider all these numbers “at least,” as we expect to support testimony from other consumer advocates, such as the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, to add to the numbers we propose below. (If you want to join the fight, visit the “Take Action” tab at CUBHelpCenter.com to speak out against the rate hikes, or just scroll to the bottom of this article.) ComEd rate hike, ICC Docket # 23-0055 What ComEd wants: $1.5 billion increase over four years. (state record) CUB expert testimony recommends reducing the rate hike by: $914.5 million CUB partners in this case: CUB, the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers (IIEC) group, Environmental Defense Fund, Community Development Corporation of Pembroke-Hopkins Park and People for Community Recovery partnered to commission expert testimony from Brubaker & Associates, Inc., a Missouri-based consulting firm that specializes in utility regulation, and the environmental sustainability consulting firm Energy Futures Group out of Vermont. CUB’s news release: “It’s immediately apparent that the company is pushing for an excessive profit rate for its shareholders. ComEd has to maintain its system, but it never deserves a blank check. We urge state regulators to make deep cuts in ComEd’s rate-hike proposal.” Ameren (electric) rate hike, ICC Docket # 23-0082 What Ameren wants: $481 million over four years. CUB expert testimony recommends reducing the rate hike by: $463 million (Note: With testimony from other parties, including the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, CUB plans to support more than $500 million in reductions.) CUB partners in this case: CUB, the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers (IIEC) group, Federal Executive Agencies, Prairie Rivers Network and United Congregations of Metro East partnered to commission expert analysis from Brubaker & Associates. CUB’s news release: “While a utility has to maintain its system, Ameren should not get a blank check. Our expert witnesses combed through Ameren’s rate-hike proposal and cut out the fat, including an excessive profit rate for shareholders. We are hoping other parties will be able to recommend further reductions.” (Note: The amount of reductions has been adjusted to $463 million since the writing of this news release.) Nicor rate hike, ICC Docket # 23-0066 What Nicor wants: $320 million CUB expert testimony recommends reducing the rate hike by: $106.5 million. CUB partners in this case: CUB, the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers (IIEC) group and Community Development Corporation of Pembroke-Hopkins Park partnered to commission an expert analysis by Brubaker & Associates. CUB’s news release: “Nicor’s rate-hike request is unjust and unreasonable—it will only be a hardship for customers, and it should be gutted. We know consumers are struggling—we hear from them every day. With climate change getting worse and customers having a harder and harder time paying their bills, we […]

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