Commonwealth Edison received a $204.8 million “reconciliation” rate hike, under a settlement approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Nov. 5.
The ICC had already approved a multi-year rate plan through 2027 for ComEd–but a provision in state law, which CUB opposed, allows ComEd to recover extra expenses in yearly “reconciliation” cases, if the utility goes over-budget.
Earlier this year, ComEd (Docket 26-0215) first proposed a reconciliation rate hike of more than $230 million–which the utility said would cost the average customer about $2.97 a month.
Consumer advocates can challenge the utilities’ proposals in these reconciliation cases, and this time CUB helped reduce ComEd’s original proposal by $27.8 million. The settlement involved all parties in the case, including ComEd, ICC staff, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and CUB.
“We believe this settlement–which cut $27.8 million in fat from ComEd’s rate-hike request–is the best outcome we could have achieved in this case,” CUB Communications Director Jim Chilsen said. “But we’re never pleased with a rate hike of any amount–because we know even a few dollars a month will be a burden for many families.”
Chilsen added: “As we’ve said before, we oppose ComEd having this reconciliation benefit. The utility should manage its budgets responsibly–and when they don’t, customers shouldn’t have to pay the price.”
ComEd’s original filing included hundreds of projects with cost overruns, hundreds of millions in spending on new, unplanned projects, and a failure to execute at least 86 approved projects. CUB argues that this massive overspend is often a direct result of ComEd’s failure to manage its budget to protect ratepayers–and the reconciliation process gives the utility no motivation to avoid mismanagement. The ICC’s final order prohibits ComEd from charging customers for additional costs for several system projects, including upgrades for a data center that wasn’t in operation in 2025. It also disallows recovery of ComEd’s additional costs towards fixing its botched billing system. The ICC approved the requested reconciliation amounts for projects that help make the system more reliable, as well as other limited investments. It also includes bonuses and penalties ComEd received from meeting or failing to meet specific performance metrics set by the ICC.
ComEd proposed multi-year grid and rate plans in 2023. But the ICC rejected the company’s plans, with ComEd receiving a smaller rate hike: $500 million. Eventually, ComEd got approval for a new plan for making improvements to the grid and received an additional $606 million rate hike, spread out through 2027. Last year, ComEd received a $243 million reconciliation increase (it wanted $268.5 million).
The utility is currently trying to get approval for a new grid plan, from 2028 through 2031. Next year, CUB will challenge the utility’s rate plan for paying for those grid improvements. Meanwhile, ComEd customers are still suffering higher electricity supply prices, thanks to a data center-driven increase in energy demand. CUB is busy in Springfield to pass the POWER Act, to make sure these massive hyperscale facilities are paying their fair share of energy costs.
