CHICAGO – Following Illinois Commerce Commission decisions on utility rate hike requests, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) released this statement:
“The days of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) rubber-stamping rate hikes for Peoples Gas as they enjoy year-after-year of record profits appear to be over. There’s a new sheriff in town, and we applaud the ICC for significantly reducing the record-setting, exorbitant Peoples Gas $402 million rate hike request.
Make no mistake, this rate hike is still onerous, especially for low-income customers on Chicago’s South and West sides where up to 48% of customers are already behind on their bills and accumulating late fees, which Peoples Gas concedes drives their profits.
With Nicor, North Shore, and Ameren also enacting gas rate hikes, it’s time to begin a managed transition away from dirty, expensive gas to more affordable clean energy solutions. We are glad to see the ICC will begin planning for a future beyond gas by opening a future of heat proceeding.
There is still more to do. We are encouraged that Mayor Johnson is committed to addressing building decarbonization in Chicago and we look forward to the state taking the lead on clean heat legislation in the spring legislative session.”
###
info@ilcleanjobs.org