The ink was barely dry on rate hikes granted electric and water utilities in 2024 when Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois proposed new gas increases for 2025—including one that would be the largest gas increase in Illinois history. At press time, CUB expected Peoples Gas to also file a rate…...
BREAKING: ICC grants Aqua Illinois $11.6 million rate-hike
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Thursday cut Aqua Illinois’ rate-hike request by about 40 percent, granting the water utility an $11.6 million increase. CUB called the ICC’s Final Order a step toward reining in a utility that was the subject of intense criticism for high rates and poor water quality from customers who…...
CUB to utility exec: Stop downplaying rate hike!
Addressing a packed public forum about a proposed rate hike that could average up to $27-$29 per month, a utility executive downplayed the increase by saying it “will be less than a dollar-a-day….” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz sparked applause at the forum when she said: “A ‘dollar a day’…...
ICC Judges Recommend 43% Cut to Aqua IL’s Proposed Rate Hike, CUB Says Aqua Increase Would Still Be Too High
State regulatory judges have recommended that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approve a lower rate hike for Aqua Illinois: $10.9 million. However, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) said Wednesday that the increase would still be too high for the company, which was sharply criticized by customers for high rates and poor water…...
‘Stop corporate greed’: Private water customers pack public forums to protest high water bills, poor service and Aqua, Illinois American rate hikes
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) held five public forums on proposals by the state’s two biggest private water companies to raise bills by up to nearly $30 a month, and the events reinforced something that CUB has known for years: Private water customers are fed up with rapidly escalating water…...
Op-Ed: Private water customers in Illinois are crying for help. Will the General Assembly listen?
By Sarah Moskowitz CUB Executive Director Hundreds of customers of Illinois’ largest private water utility packed an Illinois Commerce Commission public forum in Bolingbrook one recent summer night. They were fed up with how high their bills are now — and that Illinois American Water wanted to raise them by nearly…...
News release: Bipartisan group of lawmakers join with CUB to oppose water rate hikes, call for legislative reforms
As frustration mounts among 1.5 million private water customers in Illinois, state legislators from both sides of the political aisle joined the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) on Wednesday to urge state regulators to reject rate hikes proposed by Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, call on the General Assembly to…...
CUB News Release: CUB, University Park call for cutting Aqua rate-hike request by 40%
An Illinois utility watchdog group has joined forces with a community that has had highly publicized problems with lead in its drinking water to file testimony arguing that Aqua Illinois’ proposed $19.2 million rate hike should be slashed by at least 40 percent. (Read the full CUB news release.) The testimony…...
Illinois’ two biggest private water companies push for rate hikes
Last year’s rate-hike barrage was bad enough, but now water companies want in on the action. CUB learned this week that Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois both want rate increases. Aqua Illinois on Jan. 17 filed a $19.2 million rate-hike request with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Aqua estimated…...
CUB’s Daily Herald Op-Ed: Private Water, Big Headaches
CUB Director of Governmental Affairs Bryan McDaniel recently penned an op-ed in the Daily Herald responding to Lake County’s water outage with private water utility Aqua Illinois: The recent Aqua Illinois water outage/boil order in Lake County is further evidence that private corporate monopolies are not the answer to our…...
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