Nicor Gas agrees to $64M settlement for ratepayers

Nicor Gas has agreed to refund customers $64 million in a decade-old accounting scandal. But a utility watchdog group says that’s not enough.

The proposed settlement with staff of the Illinois Commerce Commission was disclosed Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It was first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business .

The Citizens Utility Board and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plan to continue fighting the case. They argue that consumers deserve a much larger refund from Nicor.

The utility says it admits no wrongdoing in the proposed settlement with the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Nicor is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based AGL Resources Inc.

The Citizens Utility Board says Nicor overcharged residential customers by $300 million in a gas-pricing plan called performance-based regulation.