ComEd delays Elgin-O'Hare power line plans

ComEd will delay filing its controversial plan to run tall overhead power lines along the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway with state regulators for at least six months, officials with the utility announced.

ComEd spokeswoman Liz Keating said the delay will give company officials more time to meet with suburban leaders — several of whom have voiced opposition to the project.

In recent weeks, Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village and Hanover Park officials have committed $100,000 each to fight the West Central Reliability Project, with the expectation that Itasca and Roselle also will put up similar amounts soon.

Hanover Park Village President Rod Craig said he's glad ComEd postponed its filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission — originally expected to occur late this month — and hopes to continue working with neighboring municipalities to find alternatives.

“We're still trying to figure out what our options are,” Craig said. “But this takes us out of the panic mode and gives us some breathing room.”

Craig said the mayors fighting the proposed power lines met Friday before they heard of ComEd's planned delay.

Schaumburg Village Manager Brian Townsend said the coalition of five communities welcomes the opportunity to discuss the plan further with ComEd.

“From our perspective, it doesn't change the fundamentals,” he said.

It could, however, have some impact on how the opponents spend their funds. Public relations and lobbying have been identified as some possible uses for the money. But once the filing with the ICC occurs, fighting the project becomes a legal matter, Townsend said.

ComEd's plan calls for a transmission line stretching about 9 miles between substations in Bartlett and Itasca. The line would run along the path of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway atop 140- to 170-foot steel poles.

Keating said the project is intended to improve reliability for more than 100,000 residential and business customers in nine communities served by the Bartlett substation. The new lines also would provide a backup electricity route between Bartlett and Itasca.

Leaders of the five municipalities opposing the project say their residents and businesses would not be served by the new lines, yet would face negative consequences in the form of lower property values and unpleasant aesthetics.

The village officials want the lines buried, but ComEd officials say state law prohibits them from making their customers pay for anything more than the most cost-effective option — which is the proposed overhead lines.

“ComEd is committed to continuing to engage with our customers and will plan to host additional public open houses at local venues in the future,” Keating said. “We look forward to maintaining an open dialogue and continuing to provide our customers with safe and reliable electric service they can count on, while also helping to advance economic growth in Illinois.”

• Daily Herald staff writer Erin Hegarty contributed to this story