Utilities must be held accountable

ComEd customers received a bit of good news this holiday season in the form of a $46 million refund. The refund, on November electric bills, was accepted by ComEd under a legal settlement. It culminates a seven-year legal battle Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Citizens Utility Board mounted to hold the utility accountable for unwarranted costs factored into two separate cases before state regulators in 2007.

Over its 30-year history, CUB has helped save consumers $20 billion through drawn-out cases like this, so we learned long ago that "quit" wasn't part of our vocabulary. And while it's good that consumers get rewarded with a few extra dollars, such cases are just as important because 1) they set money-saving precedents for future cases; and 2) they serve as a reminder to the utilities that the watchdogs are, well, watching.

That scrutiny will intensify in the New Year, especially now that ComEd's parent company, Exelon, has signaled that it wants a big, customer-funded revenue boost for its nuclear fleet. If lawmakers consider Exelon's request, they should follow the example of this most recent ComEd refund case and verify that the overall plan would yield an appreciable public benefit (including, but not limited to, promoting energy efficiency) - without socking it to consumers. We all have a little extra money in our pockets due to the ComEd refunds. But with billions more at stake next year, lawmakers, regulators, consumer advocates and customers can't take a holiday from holding utilities accountable.

David Kolata

Executive director

Citizens Utility Board