CUB Reaction to ComEd's Proposed $396 Million Rate Hike

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Jun 30, 2010, 04:30 ET

CHICAGO, June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Citizens Utility Board (CUB) Executive Director David Kolata reacting to news that ComEd is filing for an increase in the rates it charges customers to deliver electricity to their homes. Early estimates are that the increase is a total of about $396 million.

ComEd's rate-hike plan couldn't have come at a worse time, as working families continue to tighten their belts to pay the bills in this economy. ComEd received a $273 million rate hike less than two years ago, and the company is already back at the table asking for more. CUB's legal team will review ComEd's rate-hike filing and we'll challenge every penny the company can't justify. CUB has set up a "Rate Hike Survival Center," at www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org, to keep consumers up to date on the ComEd case and to alert them to money-saving opportunities for their utility bills.

Background:

Any increase would have to be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) after an 11-month rate case, and wouldn't take effect until 2011.
ComEd wants an increase in the rates it charges to deliver electricity to homes. Those "delivery" charges cover about a third of the bill. The rest is for the actual cost of the electricity.
According to ComEd, under the proposed rate hike, the average residential customer would see a monthly bill increase of about 7 percent.

CUB is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $10 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CUB's award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board