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…...
News Release: CUB testimony uncovers $50 million in overcharges in Illinois American Water’s proposed rate hike
Testimony filed by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) has uncovered about $50 million in overcharges buried in Illinois American Water’s proposed rate hike, criticizing the company for seeking an excessive profit rate and charging customers millions for executive bonuses, CUB said Thursday (HTML and pdf versions of the news release).…...
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…...
Private water utilities raise consumer bills by $220 million to pay for acquisitions
Over the past eight years, private water utilities Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois have been buying up aging water and wastewater systems across the state. As of February 2021, these for-profit companies have purchased more than thirty local water and wastewater systems since 2013 and have recovered the acquisition…...
CUB’s Capitol Report: Fighting rubber-stamped rate hikes, water privatization, and unfair gas charges in Springfield
With Illinois’ new General Assembly taking up business in Springfield amid a pandemic, CUB’s Bryan McDaniel will be busy fighting for consumers on a number of important bills. Help CUB fight for lower utility bills “Fighting for consumer legislation in Springfield is always a challenge because energy, water, and internet…...
CUB calls on governor to veto a bad water bill
CUB made headlines this week when the watchdog group stood with state senators and suburban mayors to ask Gov. Bruce Rauner to veto House Bill 4508, legislation that will give special treatment to Illinois’ most powerful private water companies and opens the door for higher water rates for people across the…...
