ComED requests delivery charge decrease from Illinois Commerce Commission

ComEd is making some changes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, requesting the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approve an $11.5 million decrease in charges and extending a suspension on service disconnections and late charges until June 1.

“Our rate decrease request for 2021 would extend a long period of rate stability and affordability, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help protect our people and our customers during this unprecedented time, including providing financial assistance and most importantly, ensuring all our customers from residential to hospitals have reliable power,” ComEd CEO Joe Dominguez said. “We have improved our reliability more than 70 percent since 2012, which is creating savings that we pass along to customers. We take seriously our role in being good stewards of our customers’ evolving needs and of the environment, and climate change clearly presents challenges.”

The requested decrease would apply to the delivery of electricity, compared to rates in effect as of January this year. If approved, it would mark the third rate decrease in a row and would bump the average customer bills to lower than they were in 2008, or around $82 per month as of next year. It marks the fifth rate decrease requested since the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act was enacted in 2011, which authorized $2.6 billion for a smart grid program in Illinois. Included in that legislation was a performance-based formula ratemaking model still being used today.

Separately, ComEd will voluntarily extend by one month an existing suspension of disconnects and late payment charges resulting from COVID-19 through at least June 1. Further, customers who had service disconnected prior to the suspension can call to have service restored during the crisis. In making the decision, ComEd nodded to the increased numbers of customers working and learning from home during extended stay-at-home orders. The utility is also pushing a variety of other payment and assistance options for those currently experiencing financial challenges, as a means of avoiding large debts that could come due later.