{"id":40873,"date":"2024-07-10T12:57:42","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T17:57:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?p=40873"},"modified":"2024-08-12T11:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T16:03:36","slug":"bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-join-cub-to-oppose-water-rate-hikes-call-for-legislative-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/10\/bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-join-cub-to-oppose-water-rate-hikes-call-for-legislative-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"News release: Bipartisan group of lawmakers join with CUB to oppose water rate hikes, call for legislative reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-40877 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-800x533.png 800w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-391x260.png 391w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-1536x1024.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-2048x1365.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-958x639.png 958w, https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Water-News-Conference-Visual-Instagram-Post-600x400.png 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/>As frustration mounts among 1.5 million private water customers in Illinois, state legislators from both sides of the political aisle <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/20240710-water-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joined the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Wednesday<\/a><\/strong> to urge state regulators to reject rate hikes proposed by Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, call on the General Assembly to reform state water policy that has hurt consumers, and alert people of the upcoming Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) public forums on the proposed increases.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Dagmara Avelar, a Democrat from Romeoville, state Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican from Morris, state Rep. Nabeela Syed, a Democrat from Palatine, and state Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, held a news conference (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eubT7Xg8Q0o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>) with CUB Director of Governmental Affairs Bryan McDaniel in Bolingbrook\u2013a community that has suffered under high Illinois American bills. They detailed how Aqua and Illinois American\u2013the state\u2019s two biggest private water utilities\u2013have abused their customers in recent years:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In January, Aqua, which serves about 273,000 customers in Illinois, filed for a $19.2 million rate-hike request that could increase water\/wastewater bills by as much as $29.91 per month. Aqua\u2019s parent company, Essential Utilities, saw a 7 percent increase in profits, to $498 million in 2023, and the utility last received a rate hike, about $7 million, in 2018.<\/li>\n<li>In February, Illinois American, which serves about 1.3 million Illinois customers, filed for a $152.4 million rate-hike request that could raise water\/wastewater bills by up to $29 a month. The utility\u2019s parent, American Water, made $944 million in profits in 2023, a 15 percent increase from the year before. Illinois American has won $120 million in additional rate hikes in less than a decade\u2013an $85 million increase in 2022 and a $35 million hike in 2016.<\/li>\n<li>While they pay higher bills, private water customers have also been the victims of extremely poor service\u2014including an Aqua water outage in Lake County in 2023 and unacceptable levels of lead in drinking water in University Park in 2019. While Aqua says the problem in University Park has been fixed, years later some customers were still drinking bottled water because they didn\u2019t trust the company.<\/li>\n<li>Even before the utilities\u2019 rate-hike requests, their customers contacted CUB to complain about excessive water bills, because water policy is sorely in need of reform in Illinois:\n<ul>\n<li>Private water utilities in 2000 won state legislative approval to add a \u201cQualifying Infrastructure Plant\u201d surcharge to bills, which has needlessly increased costs for customers.<\/li>\n<li>In 2013, the utilities successfully pushed for a state law that allows Illinois American and Aqua to buy up depreciated water and wastewater systems across the state and charge their customers to cover 100 percent of the acquisition costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/water-privatization-in-illinois\/\">CUB Water Tracker<\/a><\/strong>, CUB\u2019s special online center monitoring the problem, found that these for-profit companies have so far purchased 59 systems since 2013 and have passed $402 million in acquisition costs onto their customers. Private water companies often charge customers more, once they take over those municipal systems.<\/p>\n<p>CUB\u2019s legal team is challenging the rate-hike requests, uncovering $7.6 million in overcharges buried in Aqua\u2019s proposed\u00a0increase, and $48.8 million in overcharges in Illinois American\u2019s proposed increase. At the same time, CUB is fighting for legislative reforms. Those include eliminating the QIP surcharge; requiring shareholders to\u00a0cover most of the price tag when they buy a local water\/wastewater system; and requiring local approval through a referendum before Illinois American or Aqua could buy up municipal systems.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe acquisition of our municipal water systems by for-profit entities has turned a basic necessity into liquid gold for these companies,\u201d Sen. Rezin said. \u201cIt\u2019s imperative that the public have a voice in these decisions through a required referendum to ensure fair and reasonable water rates for our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate water utilities are expensive, and, just like consumers\u2019 bills, their dividends keep going up and up,\u201d said Bryan McDaniel, CUB\u2019s director of governmental affairs. \u201cIt\u2019s time for Illinois lawmakers to insist water utility shareholders pay their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy working alongside the Citizens Utility Board, we are committed to reforming Illinois utility laws that unfairly burden our families with rising water rates, essentially putting our hardworking families underwater,\u201d said Rep. Avelar. \u201cWe must act now to protect our communities from losing access to this essential resource fundamental to the health, safety, and well-being of our residents. By advocating for fair utility laws, we allow the millions of consumers who depend on running water to continue to have access to an everyday resource and ensure a sustainable and equitable future for all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Last summer, our community faced a dangerous water disruption crisis that lasted five days,\u201d Rep. Syed said. \u201cInadequate and drawn out mitigation of the leak coupled with poor communication from Aqua Illinois is not the kind of service that people in my community pay for. Now those same residents are facing a significant rate hike. People deserve more reliable service, not new expenses. Considering our constituents are still not seeing enough protections against for-profit water utility companies, I will continue to work for new legislation to provide the protections we need.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater is essential to all life. We cannot allow profits to be put over people,\u201d Sen. Ventura said. \u201cI believe water should never be privatized for this reason. I will continue to work with my colleagues to protect access to clean, affordable drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ICC will rule on the rate hikes in November for Aqua and December for Illinois American. In the meantime, CUB and legislators urged private water customers to speak out against the rate hikes at ICC public forms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On Illinois American Water\u2019s rate-hike request:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>7-9:30 PM, Monday,\u00a0 July 22, Levy Center \u2013 DuPage Township, 251 Canterbury Lane, Bolingbrook<\/li>\n<li>7-9 PM, Tuesday, July 23, Champaign Public Library, Robeson Pavilion Room AB, 200 W. Green Street, Champaign<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>On Aqua\u2019s rate-hike request:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>7-9 PM, Monday, July 29, McHenry County College, Luecht Auditorium, 8900 US Highway 14, Crystal Lake<\/li>\n<li>7-9 PM, Thursday, Aug. 1, Olivet Nazarene University, Wisner Auditorium, One University Ave., Bourbonnais<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cEveryone who is unhappy with their Aqua or Illinois American bills should attend the upcoming public forums and let their voices be heard against unfair water bills,\u201d McDaniel said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of work to do, but the first step is for people to get involved in fighting for justice for themselves and their neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>More ways to take action:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Please sign <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.everyaction.com\/n1uqBQ8WvkaFh1HYEqqRGQ2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CUB&#8217;s petition against the Aqua rate hike<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icc.illinois.gov\/docket\/P2024-0044\/public-comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>file a public comment against Aqua&#8217;s proposed increase with the ICC.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Please sign\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/secure.everyaction.com\/Y5K7UgP4PkKQpfrHk5nt8g2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CUB&#8217;s petition against Illinois American&#8217;s proposed increase<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icc.illinois.gov\/docket\/P2024-0097\/public-comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">file a comment against the rate hike with the ICC.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(You can also call the ICC to oppose the rate hike, at 1-800-524-0795.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As frustration mounts among 1.5 million private water customers in Illinois, state legislators from both sides of the political aisle joined the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Wednesday to urge state regulators to reject rate hikes proposed by Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, call on the General Assembly to reform state water policy that has hurt consumers, and alert people of the upcoming Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) public forums on the proposed increases. State Rep. Dagmara Avelar, a Democrat from Romeoville, state Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican from Morris, state Rep. Nabeela Syed, a Democrat from Palatine, and state Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, held a news conference (video) with CUB Director of Governmental Affairs Bryan McDaniel in Bolingbrook\u2013a community that has suffered under high Illinois American bills. They detailed how Aqua and Illinois American\u2013the state\u2019s two biggest private water utilities\u2013have abused their customers in recent years: In January, Aqua, which serves about 273,000 customers in Illinois, filed for a $19.2 million rate-hike request that could increase water\/wastewater bills by as much as $29.91 per month. Aqua\u2019s parent company, Essential Utilities, saw a 7 percent increase in profits, to $498 million in 2023, and the utility last received a rate hike, about $7 million, in 2018. In February, Illinois American, which serves about 1.3 million Illinois customers, filed for a $152.4 million rate-hike request that could raise water\/wastewater bills by up to $29 a month. The utility\u2019s parent, American Water, made $944 million in profits in 2023, a 15 percent increase from the year before. Illinois American has won $120 million in additional rate hikes in less than a decade\u2013an $85 million increase in 2022 and a $35 million hike in 2016. While they pay higher bills, private water customers have also been the victims of extremely poor service\u2014including an Aqua water outage in Lake County in 2023 and unacceptable levels of lead in drinking water in University Park in 2019. While Aqua says the problem in University Park has been fixed, years later some customers were still drinking bottled water because they didn\u2019t trust the company. Even before the utilities\u2019 rate-hike requests, their customers contacted CUB to complain about excessive water bills, because water policy is sorely in need of reform in Illinois: Private water utilities in 2000 won state legislative approval to add a \u201cQualifying Infrastructure Plant\u201d surcharge to bills, which has needlessly increased costs for customers. In 2013, the utilities successfully pushed for a state law that allows Illinois American and Aqua to buy up depreciated water and wastewater systems across the state and charge their customers to cover 100 percent of the acquisition costs. CUB Water Tracker, CUB\u2019s special online center monitoring the problem, found that these for-profit companies have so far purchased 59 systems since 2013 and have passed $402 million in acquisition costs onto their customers. Private water companies often charge customers more, once they take over those municipal systems. CUB\u2019s legal team is challenging the rate-hike requests, uncovering $7.6 million in overcharges buried in Aqua\u2019s proposed\u00a0increase, and $48.8 million in overcharges in Illinois American\u2019s proposed increase. At the same time, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[759,321,516],"tags":[826,637,831],"class_list":["post-40873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-policy-legislation","category-rate-hike-2","category-water-2","tag-aqua-illinois","tag-illinois-american-water","tag-water-privatization"],"cp_meta_data":{"_facebook_share_type":["default"],"_twitter_share_type":["default"],"_linkedin_share_type":["default"],"_pinterest_share_type":["default"],"_instagram_share_type":["default"],"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_edit_lock":["1723478485:5"],"_edit_last":["5"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"borntogive_page_header_show_hide":["2"],"borntogive_pages_title_show":["1"],"borntogive_pages_Choose_slider_display":["2"],"borntogive_pages_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_effects":["fade"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_social_show":["1"],"borntogive_strict_no_sidebar":["0"],"borntogive_sidebar_columns_layout":["3"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_effects":["fade"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":[""],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":["off"],"_wpsp_is_facebook_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_twitter_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_linkedin_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_pinterest_share":["off"],"_selected_social_profile":["a:0:{}"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["759"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["6"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_wpb_post_custom_layout":["default"],"borntogive_pages_select_revolution_from_list":["3"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40873"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41104,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40873\/revisions\/41104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}