ComEd seeks rate increase to cover cost of Smart Grid upgrades
ComEd is asking state and federal authorities to increase its delivery of power to residential customers by about $3 a month, but that amount is expected to be offset by other savings over this next year, a ComEd executive said Wednesday.
The power utility, which has offices in Oak Brook, said it has filed its annual report with the Illinois Commerce Commission which requests $138 million in additional revenue to cover its costs for modernizing its network with the Smart Grid.
That means the average residential customer, which pays about $84 per month, could see an additional $2 per month beginning in January.
"Overall, total customer bills have remained stable in recent years," said Thomas O'Neill, ComEd senior vice president of regulatory and energy policy.
The request is associated with the Smart Grid law, a 10-year grid modernization effort that ComEd is doing around the city and suburbs. The state law, called the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, allows utilities that agree to make specified investments in electric reliability and smart grid projects can then recover or adjust costs annually using an authorized formula. The law ensures that ComEd recovers its investment in improving the reliability of its electric grid in a timely manner, the commission had said.
ComEd said it filed its annual delivery service rate update with the commission also to show $2.4 billion in capital investments the company made in 2015. Those investments, which include $663 million for Smart Grid-related work, resulted in record power reliability, operational savings and new ways to save on electric bills for ComEd customers, said Fidel Marquez, ComEd senior vice president of governmental and external affairs.
Besides the ICC filing, ComEd also filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking an increase in transmission rates that will add another $1 to residential customers' bills beginning this June.
These state and federal rate increases are expected to be offset by decreases in supply costs of about $3, which is the result of the power auctions. Those auctions set the prices for the power itself. This increase could go into effect this June and will continue through May 2017.
The delivery rate increase is due to the utility's investment in increasing its network capacity, improving the reliability of the system, and boosting its cyber security to avoid attacks, said O'Neill.
Business customers also will see increases, but the amount varies depending on the size of the business and how much the business uses, O'Neill said.
In January, ComEd cut its delivery rate by 2 percent, which meant the average monthly residential bill of about $85 saw a reduction of $1. That was the result of a request for the reduction it filed in April 2015.