Peoples Gas files rate request with Illinois regulators
Chicago-based Peoples Gas has filed a request with Illinois regulators to restructure how costs are recovered from its customers for infrastructure projects.
According to a release from Peoples gas, the filing is not expected to increase customer bills. Natural gas pricing, which is expected to decline this year and next year, will help bills stay largely flat, the company said. The new rates, if approved, would take effect in 2024.
Peoples Gas said it would not seek an extension of the automatic bill adjustment rider – or QIP. Instead, as part of the rate request, the company would return to the traditional ratemaking process to recover the cost of infrastructure improvements. The company said the change in ratemaking would affect the process through which state regulators review and approve construction work but would not affect what customers pay.
The company said the change was necessary because the regulatory approach the state uses to oversee utilities, including any surcharges to pay for infrastructure improvements, expires at the end of 2023. The new filing, the company said, would allow Chicagoans to have safe, reliable, environmentally sustainable energy, especially when temperatures drop while maintaining home heating bills at rates below other major U.S. cities. According to move.org, the average gas bill in Illinois is $96.99.
In comparison, californiamovers.com said the average gas and heating bill in San Francisco was between $150 and $180 per month. In September, ConEdison predicted that a typical customer’s natural gas bill would jump 32 percent this winter, from $348 to $460 per month, while National Grid, which services Brooklyn, Staten Island, and parts of Queens, estimated its average customer would pay $299 per month.
The Illinois Commerce Commission’s review of the filing is expected to take nearly a year.
