Citing expert testimony and excessive profits, the Citizens Utility Board is petitioning state regulators to slash ComEd’s proposed four-year, $1.47 billion rate increase by more than 60%.
The filing Monday with the Illinois Commerce Commission seeks to reduce ComEd’s proposal by at least $914.5 million, with additional testimony by other watchdog groups and the Illinois attorney general’s office expected to bring the cumulative recommended cuts to over $1 billion.
The ICC set a Monday deadline for submitting testimony on the ComEd rate increase proposal.
“It’s immediately apparent that the company is pushing for an excessive profit rate for its shareholders,” David Kolata, CUB’s executive director, said in a news release. “ComEd has to maintain its system, but it never deserves a blank check. We urge state regulators to make deep cuts in ComEd’s rate-hike proposal.”
ComEd filed for the rate increase in January, seeking to bolster its grid for the projected demands of EVs, electrification and climate change. If approved by state regulators, ComEd customers will pay an average of $17 per month more for delivery charges by 2027.
The proposed rate hike is also projected to increase the profit rate for ComEd shareholders to 10.5% in 2024, growing to 10.65% in 2027. In its filing, CUB argued for “a more reasonable” 9.4% return on investment, which would reduce the rate hike by $570.4 million.
In addition, CUB challenged ComEd’s forecast for residential usage as “unrealistically low,” with the utility overstating its revenue requirements in the proposed rate increase by an additional $194.7 million.
“We’re still analyzing CUB’s testimony, but based on an early review, we disagree with CUB’s assessment of our multi-year plans,” ComEd spokesman Paul Elsberg said in an email. “Our proposed investments provide meaningful benefits to our customers and communities and support the goals of the state’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, and we look forward to working with the Commission and all participants in the proceeding to prove that out.”
The utility’s $1.47 billion request would spread the cost over four years, with the average residential monthly bill increasing by $6.72 in 2024; $5.73 in 2025; and $6.20 in 2026. ComEd projects a decrease of $1.67 in the fourth year of the plan, bringing the total increase to about $17 per month by 2027.
ComEd’s grid improvement plan includes connecting to a projected fivefold increase in rooftop and community solar systems, and meeting the demands of widespread electric vehicle adoption. It also prepares for more severe weather events caused by climate change through upgrading outdated equipment and improved coordination with communities for faster power restoration during storms, the utility said.
Last year, ComEd filed for a proposed $199 million increase in electricity delivery charges, its largest rate hike since 2014. That was approved by the ICC in December, adding about $2.20 per month to the average residential customer bill this year.
The 2022 increase was also the last under the 2011 Smart Grid law, a 10-year program that granted the utility control over customer-funded investments to improve its power grid. Beginning this year, regulators have more authority over rate increases.
CUB submitted testimony from energy consultants Brubaker & Associates that found the 10-year infrastructure program improved ComEd’s reliability, but “came at a cost” to customers.
The consultant concluded that ComEd is able to “meet its reliability targets” and maintain current levels of performance without increasing rates to the degree proposed in the new request.
CUB also cited the bribery lobbying scandal that resulted in the conviction of the “ComEd Four” earlier this month as leading to $1 billion in rate hikes over the last decade.
In 2020, ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping charges against the utility in the scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to pass favorable legislation.
Former ComEd lobbyist Michael McClain; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; former ComEd executive and lobbyist John Hooker; and Jay Doherty, the former president of the City Club of Chicago and a longtime ComEd lobbyist were all found guilty of bribery and record falsification in the high-profile trial.
The ICC is expected to issue a decision on the proposed ComEd rate increase by December.
