Commonwealth Edison faced a tough room Thursday at a public hearing to discuss the utility’s request for rate hikes that would add $5 a month to the average customer’s electricity bill.
“It couldn’t come at a worse time. When you have the economy as it is and these unemployed people, where’s the money going to come from?” said apartment building owner and Lansing resident James Kimbrough.
While the utility said the $326 million increase would pay them back for investments they’ve made to keep the lights on, opponents called the request excessive, saying that it unfairly burdens cash-strapped consumers to reward ComEd’s shareholders.
The rate case, to be decided in May, applies to the part of the consumer’s bill that pays to have ComEd deliver electricity. The cost of the electricity makes up about two-thirds of the average consumer’s bill and is passed through to consumers without markup.
In its rate request, ComEd is proposing that more costs be shifted to the charges that don’t vary based on electricity usage. The result, said Karen L. Lusson, senior assistant attorney general, is that consumer won’t be able to save as much by conserving electricity.
“All users will have less of an ability to control their monthly ComEd bill,” Lusson said.
For a single-family home, a fixed charge of $7.64 per month would go up to $18.73, she said. That same fixed charge for a multiunit building would rise to $9.29 from $6.65 per month, she said. At the same time, a fixed monthly meter charge would also go up by about $1, she said.
For more than 40 percent of ComEd’s customers, basic household costs exceed income, according to Lusson.
“My income is way below probably anybody’s in this room,” said Betty Kenny, 76, who lives on less than $1,000 per month and said her electric bill is one-third of that.
Mia Lopez, an unemployed volunteer with AARP, said she struggles every month to pay her ComEd bill.
“I won’t be able enjoy ComEd’s flashy new smart meters because electricity will be shut off,” she said.
AARP, the Citizens Utility Board and others also came out against an 11.5 percent return on equity that ComEd has requested. According to CUB, the return — which is passed on to ComEd’s shareholders — is more than has been approved in the last 23 rate cases.
“There are huge issues involving hundreds of millions of dollars,” said John Coffman, an attorney with AARP.
Ross Hemphill, vice president of regulatory policy and strategy for ComEd, said the rate of return is not picked out of the sky. Analysts base it on what’s happening in the investment market to determine what rate of return is needed to attract investors.
William Kyle, who went door-to-door before the hearing to gather his neighbors to speak out against the rate increases, said he’d like to see Commonwealth Edison cut its expenses.
“Almost all the seniors are on what is called ‘fixed income’ ” Kyle said. “… If they’re going to charge more, that income has got to come from somewhere.”
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Commonwealth Edison faced a tough room Thursday at a public hearing to discuss the utility’s request for rate hikes that would add $5 a month to the average customer’s electricity bill.
“It couldn’t come at a worse time. When you have the economy as it is and these unemployed people, where’s the money going to come from?” said apartment building owner and Lansing resident James Kimbrough.
While the utility said the $326 million increase would pay them back for investments they’ve made to keep the lights on, opponents called the request excessive, saying that it unfairly burdens cash-strapped consumers to reward ComEd’s shareholders.
The rate case, to be decided in May, applies to the part of the consumer’s bill that pays to have ComEd deliver electricity. The cost of the electricity itself makes up about two-thirds of the average consumer’s bill and is passed through to consumers without any markup.
In its rate request, ComEd is proposing that more costs be shifted to the charges on electric bills that don’t vary based on electricity usage. The result, said Karen L. Lusson, senior assistant attorney general, is that when customers try to conserve electricity to save money, they’ll realize less savings than they would have in the past.
“All users will have less of an ability to control their monthly ComEd bill,” Lusson said.
For a single family home, a fixed charge that is $7.64 per month would go up to $18.73, she said. That same fixed charge for a multi-family apartment unit would increase to $9.29 per month from $6.65 per month, she said. At the same time, a fixed monthly meter charge would also go up by about $1, she said.
For over 40 percent of ComEd’s customers, basic household costs exceed income, according to Lusson.
“My income is way below probably anybody’s in this room,” said Betty Kenny, 76, who lives on less than $1,000 per month and said her electric bill is one-third her income.
Mia Lopez, an unemployed volunteer with AARP said she struggles every month to pay her ComEd bill.
“I won’t be able enjoy ComEd’s flashy new smart meters because electricity will be shut off,” she said.
The AARP, Citizens Utility Board and other opponents also came out against an 11.5 percent return on equity that ComEd has requested. According to CUB, the return – which is passed on to ComEd’s shareholders – is higher than has been approved in the last 23 rate cases.
“There are huge issues involving hundreds of millions of dollars,” said John Coffman, an attorney with AARP.
Ross Hemphill, vice president of regulatory policy and strategy for ComEd said the rate of return is not picked out of the sky. Analysts base that rate of return on what’s happening in the investment market to determine what rate of return is needed to attract investors.
William Kyle, 74 – who went door-to-door before the hearing to gather his neighbors to speak out against the rate increases – said he’d like to see Commonwealth Edison cut back its expenses.
“Almost all the seniors are on what is called ‘fixed income’” Kyle said. “…If they’re going to charge more, that income has got to come from somewhere.”
To compare electricity prices, visit http://pluginillinois.org/ or http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/ciElectric_cubfacts_alternativesuppliers.html.
