ComEd on Wednesday received a $95.6 million rate hike. The increase means the average customer will pay roughly 73 cents a month more. We’re disappointed! Read CUB’s statement on the rate hike:
“CUB doesn’t believe ComEd needs such a high rate hike. We will study the order and weigh our options. Also, over the next year, CUB will fight to make sure ComEd lives up to its promise of building a power grid that has long-term, money-saving benefits for consumers. ComEd has taken some steps forward, but the company still has a long way to go to maximize the benefits of the smart grid. The ComEd rate hike also reinforces the importance of the energy efficiency benefits in the Future Energy Jobs Act. The act will give consumers key tools to cut their power bills.”
Background:
*On Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) granted ComEd a $95.6 million rate hike. In April 2017, the utility had requested a $96.3 million increase.
*The increase takes effect on Jan. 1, 2018. It will increase bills by about 73 cents a month, or $8.76 a year, for the average residential customer (7,800 kilowatt-hours, or kWh, of electricity usage per year).
*The increase impacts delivery charges—what all customers pay to have the electricity delivered to their homes. Delivery charges take up about a third to a half of the bill. The rest of the bill is taken up by the cost of the electricity itself. (Note: Even customers who pay an alternative supplier still pay ComEd’s delivery charges.)
* Delivery rates are now set according to the state’s 2011 “Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act,” or the “smart-grid bill.” That law uses a formula to determine ComEd rates annually to pay for about $2.6 billion in system upgrades.
*Illinois’ new way of setting electric rates limits how much consumer advocates and regulators can protect customers from rate increases, but each year CUB works to secure the lowest rates possible by reviewing ComEd’s spending, and protesting unjustified capital and operational expenditures. The consumer watchdog also is pushing the utility to live up to its promise to build a more affordable power grid that reduces waste, improves reliability and gives customers the chance to save money by making their homes more efficient and taking part in money-saving electricity programs.
