Statement by CUB Executive Director David Kolata on the Commonwealth Edison Rate Hike

News provided by

May 24, 2011, 02:47 ET

CHICAGO, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) plans to appeal an Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) vote Tuesday granting Commonwealth Edison a $155.7 million rate hike.

Although ComEd's requested rate hike was cut in half, the company actually owed its customers a $40 million rate cut, according to evidence uncovered by CUB and the Illinois Attorney General's office. As Illinois consumers get gouged at the pump and prepare for yet another expensive summer air-conditioning season, this is the worst possible time for a rate hike. We look forward to fighting it on appeal.

CUB is analyzing the impact of the $155.7 million rate hike on individual bills, and the consumer group will update this statement when it has solid numbers. The increase affects the rates the company charges to cover delivering electricity to homes—plus a profit. These delivery costs take up about a third of a customer's electric bill. The rest covers the cost of the electricity itself, which the company is supposed to pass on to customers, with no mark up.

CUB is Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois Legislature in 1983, CUB opened its doors a year later to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then it has saved consumers more than $10 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure consumer refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline, at 1-800-669-5556 or visit www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board