CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The City of Chicago is demanding a list of concessions from ComEd as it negotiates a new franchise agreement for the first time in decades.
Mayor Lightfoot wrote a letter to ComEd CEO Joseph Dominguez that was made public. She listed more than a dozen demands she said must be met in a "Energy and Equity Agreement" that would be included in the utility's contract to provide power to Chicago. They including an end to residential disconnections and late fees, ethics reform as the ComEd bribery case continues to unfold, clean energy commitments, and diversity hiring, among other things.
"The city believes it is time to move beyond rhetoric and instead gauge ComEd's commitment to specific substantive policy goals, including expansive ethics reforms, should the company continue to hold a franchise for electricity distribution in Chicago," Lightfoot said in her letter.
There is an "or else."
She said the city will not renew the agreement negotiated three decades ago that expires at the end of the year, if she does not receive a "substantive" plan.
"My administration will not present a new franchise with ComEd to City Council unless the following commitments are memorialized and detailed in an Energy and Equity Agreement," Lightfoot said in her letter.
But the city has admitted in cannot afford to take over the power grid, so the amount of leverage the city has is questionable.
Nonetheless, ComEd said in a statement it agrees with the Mayor's priorities in affordability, sustainability, equity, and transparency. It also said her agenda is "ambitious."
Lightfoot to ComEd: End shutoffs, commit to ethics reform and clean energy to keep city franchise
