Commonwealth Edison customers are in line for a roughly $38 million refund — or about, on average, a little less than $5 per residential customer — to address what the utility giant acknowledged was its “unacceptable conduct” in the bribery-related scandal that has swept across Illinois and helped end Michael Madigan’s historic run as the Illinois House speaker.
The Illinois Commerce Commission on Tuesday approved the refund plan on a 3-0 vote, with the ICC’s chairwoman abstaining from the vote because her father-in-law has been embroiled in the scandal.
The $38 million refund was an amount ComEd offered after a previous $21 million proposal in December drew criticism for being too small.
But even the latest amount drew catcalls from a leading utility watchdog.
Abe Scarr, who heads the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, said ComEd customers will receive credits on future bills that will total less than $5 for a typical customer, an amount he has repeatedly called “chump change” for the giant utility.
The size of each customer refund would be based on individual electricity usage, including commercial customers. But generally under the plan, a typical residential customer will see a credit on their April 2023 electric bill of $4.80.
Scarr criticized the decision as the product of a “very narrow look at the malfeasance of ComEd,” because it limits the payments largely to the direct costs of employees responsible for the scheme.
But ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones said in a statement that the $38 million refund “resolves any question of whether customer funds were used in connection with the unacceptable conduct” outlined by federal prosecutors.
He added that the utility is continuing to build upon “significant new policies, oversight and rigorous employee training … to make sure that the past conduct that drove this refund can never happen again.”
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The ICC order is designed to resolve two investigations — one the ICC initiated and one required by a sweeping energy law approved last year — that called for examining whether ComEd improperly charged ratepayers costs tied to the Madigan scandal.
The customer refund follows ComEd’s separately negotiated $200 million federal fine that was part of the deal with U.S. Attorney John Lausch that disrupted Madigan’s political career and roiled Illinois politics.
The subsequent political fallout led to Madigan’s ouster as speaker in January 2021, ending his record 36-year reign as the nation’s longest-serving leader of a legislative chamber.
The dethroned speaker and former chair of the Illinois Democratic Party faces a 22-count indictment alleging extortion, bribery and racketeering in what prosecutors called the illegal “Madigan Enterprise.” Madigan of Chicago and his co-defendant, Michael McClain of Quincy, a former Democratic lawmaker and longtime ComEd lobbyist, have pleaded not guilty.
Madigan, 80, and McClain, 74, allegedly conspired to participate in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019, including a plot to steer payments from ComEd to members of Madigan’s vast political operation in exchange for the speaker’s help the company’s legislative agenda.
McClain has a separate bribery trial set to begin in March with former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and consultant Jay Doherty, a lobbyist who once headed the City Club of Chicago.
Carrie Zalewski, the ICC chair, recused herself from taking part in the regulatory decision on Tuesday. Her father-in-law is former Ald. Mike Zalewski, 23rd, who held a ComEd subcontract through Doherty. The ex-alderman’s home was raided by federal agents in 2019, but he has not been charged. He is the father of state Rep. Mike Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat who was defeated in the primary. Rep. Zalewski is married to the ICC chair.
The ICC action approved about $31.3 million under state jurisdiction. The action paved the way for an additional refund of more than $5 million, plus interest, that would go before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, pushing the overall total to about $38 million, ComEd said.
Calculations used to come up with the overall ComEd refund total included salaries of top officials, such as the $1.8 million paid to Pramaggiore in 2011 alone.
Quiniones said the “quality and value of ComEd’s service to our customers is arguably the best in the nation, but we recognize that delivering excellent performance and value for the dollar is not enough and we are equally dedicated to earning and maintaining our customers’ trust. We’re committed to maintaining high standards of ethical behavior for our business, our leaders and every employee.”
