1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="01YiI0BQ2m"><a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/comed-cuts-off-1in25-homes-in-black-southside-neighborhoods/">ComEd cuts off 1 in 25 households in Black South Side neighborhoods</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/comed-cuts-off-1in25-homes-in-black-southside-neighborhoods/embed/#?secret=01YiI0BQ2m" width="600" height="338" title="“ComEd cuts off 1 in 25 households in Black South Side neighborhoods” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="01YiI0BQ2m" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> ComEd cuts off 1 in 25 households in Black South Side neighborhoods By Steve Daniels, Crain’s Chicago Business, Nov. 17, 2020 Commonwealth Edison turned off the juice to more than one in every 25 homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side in the five weeks from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31, according to newly filed statistics. In the Zip codes for Englewood, South Shore, Roseland/Pullman, Auburn Gresham, Chatham and Woodlawn, 6,104 homes were disconnected for nonpayment in that period, according to filings with the Illinois Commerce Commission. That’s 4.1 percent of ComEd’s 147,986 residential customers in those areas. In addition, more than 9 percent of the households in those neighborhoods were sent notices in October that their power would be shut off if they didn’t reach out to the utility for payment options. In ComEd’s northern Illinois service territory as a whole during that time frame, the utility disconnected 40,979 residential customers, or 1.1 percent of the 3.7 million total. In October, 3.6 percent of ComEd’s residential customers got disconnection warnings. Most of those warnings will go unenforced for the time being. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said yesterday that she negotiated a halt to disconnections by ComEd and Peoples Gas through March. “No Chicagoan should be punished for struggling during this time, and truly all of us are struggling one way or another, and there are too many that are struggling financially,” Lightfoot said at her press conference. “We do not want utilities to be one of the things that you’re worried about.” In reaching agreement with the mayor, the utilities weren’t doing anything unusual. Both ComEd and Peoples (as well as suburban gas utilities Nicor Gas and North Shore Gas) routinely suspend disconnections during heating season, which lasts from November through March. “Service disconnections are our last resort and are designed to encourage customers to enroll in assistance programs,” ComEd spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier said in an email. “Residential customer enrollment into deferred payment arrangements has increased 98.6 percent since we began sending disconnection notices.” Utilities and local officials urge customers struggling to pay utility bills to contact the companies or the Citizens Utility Board to work out a payment arrangement. “It is important for customers to stay current to avoid higher past-due balances into the spring that will be harder to address,” Breymaier added. “These balances have the potential to affect all ComEd customers, including others who are facing financial hardship, because costs from uncollected bills will get passed on to all customers in the form of higher rates, in accordance with state regulatory law.” For the many delinquent customers who don’t seek help, ComEd clearly made up for lost time in the five-week window it had for disconnections. ComEd resumed residential disconnections in the last week of September following expiration of a months-long moratorium on collections requested by the ICC, which regulates utilities, in response to the pandemic. When they resumed disconnections, ComEd and other utilities said it was necessary to cut off customers who weren’t responding to warnings in order to ensure that uncollectible accounts don’t mushroom further. For households late on their electric bills, […]https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CUB_IL_LogoBadgeRGBAdminLogo.png254254