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Even as Commonwealth Edison fights in Springfield for legislation that would set utility rates by formula and sharply undercut the authority of the Illinois Commerce Commission, at home, that same regulatory body is undercutting ComEd in its battles for rate increases.
Administrative law judges recommended that Commonwealth Edison Co. be allowed a rate increase of about 3 percent, or $166 million, less than half what the Chicago-based utility requested last June. Get the full story »
The U.S. nuclear industry will see a “significant” increase in operating and regulatory costs following the Japanese nuclear emergency, but the magnitude won’t be known for several months, the head of the largest fleet of U.S. nuclear reactors said on Thursday. Get the full story »
A nonprofit watchdog group has released an apples-to-apples price comparison for electricity contracts offered by ComEd and other suppliers in northern Illinois.
The Citizens Utility Board posted the comparison on its website.
Its shows that BlueStar, Champion, Constellation, Direct Energy and Spark offer 12-month fixed-rate contracts with prices lower than Commonwealth Edison’s through at least May of 2011. Get the full story »
For the third year in a row, business customers have placed Commonwealth Edison second-to-last in customer satisfaction among its Midwest peers.
According to a J.D. Power and Associates study — based on interviews with representatives of more than 17,000 U.S. businesses that spend between $500 and $50,000 monthly on electricity — ComEd tied for second-to-last place with the state’s other major utility Ameren Illinois. Both received a score of 607 on a 1,000 point scale. Get the full story »
Attorney General Lisa Madigan said today that she is “strenuously opposed” to state legislation introduced this week that would determine utility rates by formula, joining a strong opposition group that includes AARP Illinois, Citizens Utility Board and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Commonwealth Edison — which is behind the bill — and other state utilities would be able to lock in profit margins above 10 percent under the proposal. The legislation also proposes that rate hikes for consumers, which typically undergo an 11-month regulatory review, could be decided in as little as 45 days. Get the full story »
Commonwealth Edison and other state utilities would be able to lock in profit margins above 10 percent under a bill to be introduced Tuesday in the General Assembly.
The legislation also proposes that rate hikes for consumers, which typically undergo an 11-month regulatory review, could be decided in as little as 45 days.
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Exelon’s Commonwealth Edison Co. is the chief opponent of an Illinois Power Agency proposal that would to help the largest consumers of electricity finance major capital projects that would allow them to cut usage. Such cuts would hurt ComEd’s revenue and potentially reduce wholesale power prices. Get the full story>>
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Illinois’ utility regulator has recommend that Commonwealth Edison Co. get a small fraction of the $400 million rate hike it requested. The Illinois Commerce Commission staff recommended a rate increase of $78 million, or roughly 7 percent on the average month residential electric bill. Get the full story>>
An electrical fire in a Commonwealth Edison vault shut down power to two office buildings for almost four hours.
Power was restored to the building at 150 North Wacker Drive at 8:18 a.m., and several minutes later to 110 North Wacker, but not before employers sent some workers home. Get the full story >>
Commonwealth Edison is asking the Second Appellate Court to rehear its case following a decision earlier this month that removed the funding mechanism ComEd was using to pay for a smart grid pilot program in the Chicago area.
The decision also overturned a precedent the Illinois Commerce Commission has used for years to determine how much consumers pay on utility bills, a change that would mean an annual revenue loss of tens of millions of dollars for ComEd’s parent, Exelon Corp. and possible rebates for consumers.
The court has not decided if or when it will rehear the case. Get the full story »
In light of a court ruling this month that placed funding for Commonwealth Edison’s smart grid pilot project in jeopardy, the utility is petitioning the Illinois Commerce Commission to wrap an additional $11 million into its $396 million rate-increase case.
The utility asked the commission to decide by the end of the month whether it will hear that request as part of a proposed 7 percent rate hike — a sign of good faith that would allow the utility to finish the project with the expectation that there would be some way for them to recoup the costs at a later day.
Get the full story »
Commonwealth Edison has been padding customer bills to pay for improvements that are properly the utility’s burden, according to a Second District Appellate Court decision that could mean lowered utility bills for consumers.
The decision, handed down Friday, overturns a 2008 decision by the Illinois Commerce Commission that allowed the utility to pass on the costs associated with creating a “smart grid” to consumers, including a recently launched program to test smart meters as part of its “innovation corridor.” Get the full story »
ComEd said will letters go out this week to single family homeowners in the innovation corridor along I-290 – which includes 130,000 customers in Melrose Park, Bellwood, Maywood, River Forest, Oak Park, Forest Park, Broadview, Hillside, Berwyn and the Humboldt Park section of Chicago – asking for single-family homeowners to test solar panels.
The three-year photovoltaic pilot is partially funded by a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and allows ComEd to install 100 solar arrays on residential homes in the corridor. The arrays produce enough electricity to power a small home and at the end of the pilot, the homeowners keep the panels, said Maryl Freestone, senior engineer and project manager for the PV pilot. Get the full story »
