Column depicted ComEd unfairly

Column depicted ComEd unfairly

While I read with interest Chuck Goudie's biting, tongue-in-cheek article on ComEd in the Sept. 3 Daily Herald, I felt it presented a very one-sided and unfair depiction of the corporation and its leadership. I am not a stockholder in ComEd, but if I was, I would expect the CEO of the company to represent the interests of its owners as well as the public at large. We know too well what happens to the Enrons of the world when neither constituency is properly treated.

You may not be predisposed to liking ComEd or its executives, but for the most part I think it has historically been a well-run utility. I have compared my rates with those in other states and have felt we have long had a bargain. If the company fails to receive fair rates, stockholders and banks will desert the company in mass, the bond ratings will plummet and ComEd's cost of doing business will skyrocket, to the detriment of all customers. As a customer, I share Mr. Rowe's hope that the settlement arrived at in Springfield is constructive and will allow all parties to benefit.

Actually, if the CEO of ComEd was able to work out a satisfactory compromise that satisfied both the legislators and the governor, he must be a genius. Virtually nothing else was resolved between those parties in the latest session. No one can be pleased about the lack of resolution, at a high cost to all taxpayers, due to the lack of leadership in these other matters.

As far as Mr. Rowe's salary and that of all its employees, I'm happy to let the stockholders and company directors decide this. For that matter, I don't care to know or to advise ABC and the Herald on what Chuck Goudie earns. I only hope that, in either case, management is getting their money's worth.

James Mooney

Arlington Heights