Daily Herald opinion:

There is outrage brewing in a number of suburbs and other communities around Illinois, whose residents are boiling over at requested rate hikes by their private water utility companies.

Altogether about 1.5 million Illinois residents receive their water and wastewater service not from municipal public works departments, but instead from private entities Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois.

IAW is asking the Illinois Commerce Commission for a $152.4 million rate hike, or about $29 more monthly from its 1.3 million customers. Aqua Illinois wants a $19.2 million increase from its 273,000 customers, or $29.91 monthly.

Rate hike requests must be studied by the ICC, which can modify them based on arguments from advocacy groups like the Citizens Utility Board and AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons), the Illinois attorney general and local municipalities. There has been a groundswell of opposition to these rate hikes from most of these entities, and the ICC would do well to hear their arguments.

IAW officials say that $557 million in infrastructure spending would replace lead pipes and upgrade the pumps and stations that move water through its system. But the rate increase would also be a windfall for the company’s shareholders, as IAW is proposing an increase in the profit rate from 9.78% to 10.75%. CUB argues the hike is “excessive” and not in line with industry standards.

CUB also argues that IAW — not customers — should pay for the bonuses the company awards officials and employees when the company hits a financial goal.

AARP pushed for public hearings, which were held this summer in Bolingbrook, Crystal Lake, Bourbonnais and Champaign. The mayor of far south suburban Homer Glen, Christina Neitzke-Troike, revealed at one hearing that her bill to IAW is about $350 a month.

There, ICC representatives also heard other disturbing testimony from residents: One family said it flushes the toilet only after several uses. Another said it does laundry every two weeks and its members bathe only twice a week. Some admitted to having to make tough choices each month — pay the water bill or buy food.

We also take a dim view of the proposed increases to customers’ fixed monthly charges — the part of the bill you pay to support the system, regardless of how much water you use. IAW wants those charges to rise from $17.98 to $26.12. The higher the fixed charges are, the harder it is for customers to control their water bills.

Over at Aqua Illinois, customers have complained frequently that the proposed $29 monthly increase per customer is out of line, especially with frequent service interruptions and boil orders. The most significant was a system failure over nine days in July 2023 that affected 1,200 customers and left hundreds of homes and businesses in southern Lake County without drinkable water for days. Aqua began work last month on a second treatment plant in Hawthorn Woods to help increase capacity, but customers and the advocacy groups told the ICC they weren’t confident the changes will address all the problems they have experienced.

The ICC is expected to make a decision on the rate hikes by the end of the year. What they’ll do is unknown, but it’s obvious that people are suffering. Water is our most precious commodity — more precious than gas or even electricity. What the ICC should consider is not whether Illinois American Water or Aqua Illinois have enough money, but whether the water companies are meeting their obligations to our residents.