Rate hike not justified for pipe repairs

The recent article about the new Peoples Gas rate hike by Maggie Dougherty captures the urgency of what faces Chicagoans if this proposal is allowed to go through. The rate hike would help cover the increasing cost of replacing more than 1000 miles of dangerous old iron pipes. However, this is not conclusive to legitimately fixing the problem in a cost-effective manner and would ultimately force the city to become more reliant on fossil fuels.

Instead of choosing to invest in more safe and cost-effective means of addressing these old pipes, such as relining and repair, Peoples Gas has decided to issue this request during the coldest time of the year. If this rate hike were to go through, it would raise the annual heating bill by an average of $127, despite Peoples Gas already having received a rate hike of $303 million two years ago. Keeping this in mind, if the upcoming rate hike were to be approved, it would mean that Peoples Gas has increased delivery rates by 71% since 2023. In the past month, almost 20% of Peoples Gas customers are already in debt in terms of paying their utility bills.

The average Chicagoan would find it much harder to heat their home if this were to go through and it would force the city to stay reliant on harmful fossil fuels, as the Pipe Replacement Program’s 1000 miles of new gas pipes would likely take close to a century to pay off.

It’s time for the Illinois Commerce Commission to tell Peoples Gas to pursue other methods in the Pipe Replacement Program and to come to an equitable solution that residents will agree with.

Dylan Chudy

Algonquin