ComEd pitches rate hike, infrastructure plan to Kane County
Kane County is poised to back a $2.6 billion infrastructure plan by ComEd that would alter the process for rate hikes and regulation of the electricity giant.
ComEd External Affairs Manager Sylvia Rogowski Wednesday parroted many of the talking points delivered by ComEd President Anne Pramaggiore at recent committee hearings in the Illinois General Assembly.
Rogowski said the infrastructure for electricity is a century old and unequipped to handle the power demands of modern cell phones, computers and electric-powered vehicles.
ComEd’s plan would create 2,000 jobs at its peak and a smart grid system with “smart meters” that will provide consumers and ComEd more information on household power use. Such information can be used to help consumers find ways to cut their electric bill, Rogowski argued.
Those savings and fewer power outages, are good news for consumers. The flip side is the attorney general’s office, the Citizens Utility Board and AARP are against the proposal. ComEd wants to change the regulatory system to base rate hikes on a formula critics believe will allow automatic rate hikes that circumvent the current state review process. The immediate impact to electric bills would be an additional $3 per month, on average, for 10 years to pay for the infrastructure upgrades and create a profit margin ComEd believes is necessary to attract investors.
Rogowski said the regulatory changes will ensure more predictability in the amount and frequency of rate hikes so ComEd can be sure it can pay for the improvements. The $3 increase paying for the plan would occur in the second year of the infrastructure plan and continue through to year 10 when the plan is complete. At that point, the $3 increase goes away.
ComEd has separate pending requests with the state for a $326 million rate increase and a $35 million request to finance pilot programs that would, among other things, help low-income residents pay their bills. Combined, those two requests would add $5.25 to an average monthly bill.
Rogowski didn’t mention those requests in her pitch to the Kane County Board’s Energy and Environmental Committee Wednesday. However, the concept of the smart grid and smart meter infrastructure upgrades received a general stamp of approval. Board member Bonnie Kunkel said enhanced reliability is a major change she’d like. She went through a recent three-day stretch without power.
“If I had home health care needs, it would’ve been a disaster,” Kunkel said.
“It sort of boggles the mind that a private company has to ask permission to invest $2.6 billion in the state,” board member Mike Donahue said. “If this were roads and bridges we were talking about and not wires and pipelines, the state would be falling all over themselves to find a way to pay for it. I hope that this would pass. I would be concerned if there was significant opposition.”
Donahue is the owner of Midwest Wind Energy, a wind farm developing company that partners with other electric power generating and distributing companies. Some state lawmakers are backing a version of the ComEd plan that would allow third-party electricity providers to be more competitive with ComEd.
The full county board will weigh-in on ComEd’s plan before a formal endorsement is made. So far, no county official has suggested inviting any of the opposing groups in to hear their concerns.