ComEd Asks For Rate Hike

http://chicagoist.com/2010/02/25/comed_asks_for_rate_hike.php

If ComEd gets its wish, customers could be paying more for power pretty soon. Crain's is reporting that the company announced plans to ask the Illinois Commerce Commission for the hike at an investors conference in New York on February third. The request will likely be made in the second or third quarter of this year.

In a statement, ComEd said the rate hike is needed to recoup its investment in system improvements and maintenance. The utility said it cut about $200 million in expenses last year.

The rate-hike request comes on top of an extra $70 million ratepayers will fork over to ComEd beginning in April to cover the utility's higher costs in 2008 and 2009 from unpaid bills, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

A new state enacted law last year allows utilities to collect an additional amount annually to compensate for bad-debt expense above what's embedded in their rates.

The ICC will have up to 11 months to rule on ComEd's request once it's filed. The request doesn't sit well with the consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board. Jim Chilson, spokesman for the group, told the Tribune, "It's terrible timing with the economy the way it is."