Proposal opens door to easy rate hikes

Proposal opens door to easy rate hikes

Your April 11 article about HB 14, automatic rate-hike legislation pushed by Ameren and ComEd (“Customer benefits debated in push for $2.6 billion ‘smart grid’”) left out some key details on why the Citizens Utility Board opposes the bill. CUB has long pushed for “smart grid” upgrades to the electric system to save consumers money, but we have to do it right. As it stands, HB 14 would give utilities unlimited discretion to spend billions of dollars in consumer money on whatever improvements they choose, even if they’re not beneficial to customers. In exchange, the bill would open the door for all electric and gas utilities to get automatic, yearly rate hikes.

While there’s no guarantee of the bill’s consumer benefits, it would do one thing: weaken the regulatory system that allows consumer advocates, like CUB, AARP and the Illinois Attorney General’s office, to successfully contest rate-hike plans. Under current law, rate-hike proposals are subject to a thorough 11-month review by state regulators. This process affords consumer advocates time to educate regulators on aspects of the proposal that undermine the public interest. But HB 14 would exempt rate hikes from the 11-month review and give regulators as little as 45 days, after the fact, to assess whether they’re justified.

For utilities, this bill in effect replaces regulatory checks and balances with a blank check to raise our rates. CUB looks forward to working with all parties to improve the legislation. But in its current form, this proposed method of constructing a smart grid is not very smart.

Jim Chilsen

Director of communications

Citizens Utility Board