Crain’s Chicago Business reports that in the first quarter of the year—a relatively warm winter—Peoples Gas still made a record $97.6 million. That’s after two straight years of record annual profits. “It wasn’t long ago when Peoples’ profit over an entire year wouldn’t approach the nearly $100 million it collected…...
The Chicago City Council has passed a resolution urging Illinois leaders to protect the City’s residents from rapidly increasing heating bills caused by a “troubled” Peoples Gas pipeline-replacement program. The resolution, passed on Friday, calls on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly “to restore necessary oversight of this…...
What happened? The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) announced in July that Peoples Gas has agreed to give about $7.2 million back to its customers. Why is Peoples Gas giving money back to consumers? It’s connected to a review of 2015 costs of the utility’s troubled pipeline-replacement program, called the System…...
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has announced that Peoples Gas has agreed to give about $7.2 million back to its customers in connection with a review of the 2015 costs of the utility’s troubled pipeline-replacement program. This is the result of a settlement involving the utility and the staff of…...
In a recent earnings call, Gale Klappa, the CEO of WEC Energy Group (the parent of Peoples Gas), tried to dodge ongoing reports by Crain’s Chicago Business that the utility’s pipeline-replacement program is mismanaged, over-budget and on the verge of sparking a heating-affordability crisis in Chicago. “I hate to use…...
Just before a City Council committee passed a resolution asking the Illinois General Assembly to rein in reckless spending by Peoples Gas, CUB’s Bryan McDaniel stood with consumer advocates to talk about problems with the utility’s pipeline-replacement program. Peoples Gas is legally obligated to replace hazardous pipes, and the company…...
CUB wants to alert you to an important event for Peoples Gas customers on Wednesday. We hope you can be there! Ald. George Cardenas’ Health & Environmental Protection Committee is holding a hearing on a growing problem in Chicago: soaring Peoples Gas bills due to the utility’s mismanaged pipeline replacement…...
Here’s why we need your help fighting Peoples Gas: Check out the latest numbers on your gas utility’s spending spree. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that capital spending at Peoples (and its smaller sister company) is “set to explode” to $3 billion over the next five years. In one year, Peoples Gas…...
Mismanaged pipeline program Last winter, Peoples customers paid about 80 percent more for service than Nicor Gas customers—and a big reason is the pipe program, which aims to replace 2,000 miles of aging gas mains. A state-ordered 2015 audit uncovered rampant mismanagement. Since then, the projected price tag for the program has quadrupled to up to $11…...
