The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is urging Chicago customers to attend an Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) public forum to oppose a new push by Peoples Gas to raise rates by $205 million only a few years after winning the largest gas rate hike in Illinois history. The Chicago gas utility has increased bills by $499 million since 2011 and has pulled in record profits in seven out of the last nine years, while large sections of the city struggle to afford their escalating gas bills. (Read the full CUB release.)
Consumer advocates have filed testimony revealing massive overcharges in the Peoples Gas rate-hike request. CUB said it is important for Peoples Gas customers to go to the public forum and drive home the point to ICC representatives that the proposed increase is unjust and unreasonable. The ICC’s public comment forum is:
7 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 15
Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Ida B. Wells Lounge, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL
ICC representatives will be there to accept public comments submitted verbally or written. Those unable to attend the forum can submit comments via the ICC webpage on the proposed rate hike (consolidated Docket 26-0065/26-0066) or by calling the ICC’s Consumer Services Division, 1-800-524-0795, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Peoples Gas customers can sign a petition and access the ICC public comments page at CUBActionCenter.com.
“It’s important that the ICC hear from Peoples Gas customers who are suffering under escalating bills because of the utility’s long history of serial rate hikes, reckless spending and record profits, so we urge people to attend this forum,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “This rate hike is unjust and unreasonable, and we need Peoples Gas customers to make that point loud and clear.”
Consumer advocates have argued in testimony that the $205 million rate-hike plan is littered with overcharges, including lavish bonuses for corporate executives, inflated profit margins, and continued wasteful spending on its failing pipe retirement program. At best, the utility can only justify a fraction of the proposed increase.
Chicago gas customers have suffered for years under a crisis of rapidly rising utility costs, fueled by Peoples’ reckless spending in its mismanaged pipeline-replacement program. Since Peoples launched that program in 2011, the utility has raised rates by $499 million, or 98 percent—including a 2023 state-record $306 million hike.
This has taken a toll on customers. About one in five Peoples Gas customers are chronically struggling to afford their heating bills. In May, a period when gas bills should be easing as summer approaches, 171,171 customers were more than 30 days behind on their bills by a total of $111.2 million. While customers suffer, Peoples Gas has profited: In 2026, the utility hopes to win record profits for the eighth time in 10 years. Its out-of-state corporate parent made $1.6 billion in 2025.
