(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Consumers are catching a little break as state regulators put limits on ComEd and People’s Gas.
The Illinois Commerce Commission has turned down a couple of requests from the two electric and natural gas utilities. The decisions made by ICC will hold down rate hikes for Chicago-area gas and electric customers going into 2024.
ComEd had wanted a nearly $1.5 billion dollar rate increase over four years as part of its grid improvement plan.
“We applaud Chairman Doug Scott and other members of the Illinois Commerce Commission for making a decisive pivot away from the more utility-friendly approach of the past,” Abe Scarr, director of Illinois PIRG, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization, said in a statement.
ComEd wanted its profit rate to be well over 10.5 % by 2027. The ICC capped it at just under 9%. State regulators also turned down an emergency request by People’s Gas to restore pipeline replacement funding for next year.
“While we wish the Commission would have granted our emergency request, this decision opens the door for us to request a rehearing — something we are likely to do in the coming days,” Peoples Gas spokesperson David Schwartz said in a statement.
On the ComEd ruling, the Citizens Utility Board said the ICC reined in reckless spending and said no to excessive profit rates.
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