1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="bwYhbKR9px"><a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2025/12/18/cub-statement-on-comeds-243m-reconciliation-rate-hike/">CUB statement on ComEd’s $243M reconciliation rate hike</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2025/12/18/cub-statement-on-comeds-243m-reconciliation-rate-hike/embed/#?secret=bwYhbKR9px" width="600" height="338" title="“CUB statement on ComEd’s $243M reconciliation rate hike” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="bwYhbKR9px" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","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> The following is a statement from CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz: We are pleased that state regulators knocked $25 million off of ComEd’s rate hike by weeding out wasteful and inappropriate spending–especially costs connected to fixing the utility’s error-prone billing system. ComEd customers shouldn’t have to pay for the utility’s incompetence.  However, ComEd still received a $243 million rate hike, and we remain concerned about customers being able to afford their utility bills at a time of escalating costs for healthcare, groceries and other necessities.    Under state regulatory law, ComEd is allowed to petition state regulators for extra money if it goes beyond what it has budgeted for capital projects. CUB supports ending this reconciliation benefit for utilities. If ComEd blows through its budget in a given year, customers shouldn’t have to pay the excess. Background: On Thursday, Dec. 18, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) granted ComEd a rate hike of about $243 million as part of the utility’s 8-month “reconciliation” case (Docket 25-0383). That’s about $25 million lower than the $268.5 million ComEd sought. ComEd has already won a $606 million, multi-year rate hike last year, but a provision in state regulatory law allows ComEd to petition the ICC to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if they go over-budget on capital expenditures. Roughly $200 million of ComEd’s proposed $268.5 million reconciliation increase was to make up for higher rates that were approved earlier, but had not yet been put in place. The rest of the proposed increase was to recover excess spending for ComEd going over-budget on capital projects. (CUB opposes utilities having this reconciliation benefit.) Among $25.4 in reductions that consumer advocates supported and the ICC approved: Most overrun costs related to fixing billing problems that have plagued ComEd customers since February of 2024. (Customers have complained about problems–billing delays, overcharges and other errors–since the utility launched its new billing system.) Millions of dollars to recover extra costs for infrastructure upgrades the ICC deemed unnecessary for a $73 million data center. For future reconciliation cases, the ICC also ordered ComEd to include cost-benefit analyses of grid plan projects to make it easier to evaluate the impact of ComEd’s plans for improving the grid. A history of ComEd’s recent rate hikes: 2023: The ICC rejected ComEd’s first attempt at a multi-year rate plan, in part because the utility didn’t do enough to show how the plan would be affordable or beneficial to customers. The utility received a $500 million rate hike, which was about $1 billion lower than it wanted. 2024: ComEd proposed a new plan last year, and the ICC approved a multi-year $606 million rate plan, spread out through 2027. 2025: ICC approved an additional $243 million rate hike, as part of an 8-month reconciliation rate case. The rate hike will take effect before the end of the year. Also, in January 2026, ComEd will launch a discount program for lower-income customers. The program will provide monthly discounts to qualifying customers designed to reduce energy bills to 3 to 6 percent of household income. Read CUB’s Q&A on the ComEd program.https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CUB_IL_LogoBadgeRGBAdminLogo.png254254