Saying the law could both simultaneously be a subsidy designed to prop up two Illinois nuclear power plants and a legitimate attempt to reduce carbon emissions, a Chicago federal judge has pulled the plug on attempts by a group of power generators and electricity consumers to challenge a recent state law the plaintiffs claimed unconstitutionally used “green energy” goals as a pretext to rig the wholesale electricity generation and supply markets in favor of electricity generation giant Exelon.
A woman is suing ComEd and Comcast Cable Corporation for allegedly taking insufficient measures to prevent injuries, liability and negligence, after her husband and father of her three children died of electrocution.
A grocery store is suing Commonwealth Edison Company, a public utility provider, citing alleged retaliation and violation of federal law for wrongfully cutting off its electricity.
Even as Illinois state electricity regulators have asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging a state law unconstitutionally rigs the wholesale electricity generation and supply markets in favor of electricity generation giant Exelon, a prominent environmental activist organization has also stepped into the court fight, asking the court to allow it to defend the law’s renewable energy requirements, which it says the lawsuit also threatens.
Two months since Illinois lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner signed off on a bailout bill they said was needed to ensure the viability of two Exelon nuclear electricity plants, two lawsuits filed in federal court have challenged the constitutionality of the legislation, alleging the law effectively rigs in Exelon’s favor wholesale electricity generation and supply markets, resulting in a a windfall for Exelon over the next 10 years, paid for by Illinois businesses and households.
In early December, Democrats and Republicans in Springfield, including Gov. Bruce Rauner, agreed on an energy bailout bill in the Legislature to keep two Exelon nuclear generator plants operating at a cost of as much as $4.54 per month per Illinois ratepayer. But a Chicago lawyer who has advised industrial businesses and governments on energy-related issues for more than two decades said the 503-page bailout bill, which rewrote major provisions of both the Illinois Public Utilities Act and the Illinois Power Agency Act, should have received a more thorough review before becoming law.
A new class action lawsuit has charged two of the Chicago area’s largest utility companies with improperly adding finance charges and late fees to so-called “medical payment arrangements” – or special electric and natural gas bill repayment plans required by the state, should utility customers suffer significant health problems interfering with their ability to pay their bills on time.
An Illinois appellate court has upheld a decision by the Illinois Commerce Commission defining the terms that govern how ComEd can tweak its power rates.
A Chicago federal judge has ruled Commonwealth Edison should be reimbursed for its legal bills in fending off an allegedly inept patent infringement lawsuit concerning smart meters, but the judge still faulted the utility giant for its own conduct in the case.
CHICAGO — An electric utility is suing truck driver Jaroslaw Koleczek individually and as agent of Composites One LLC, alleging negligence in the collapse of power poles and wires.
A state appellate court has rejected a claim by the Citizens Utility Board that ComEd should extend the special metering it allows customers who generate their own green energy to groups of people supporting community green energy projects.
The Illinois Supreme Court has shied away from ruling on a question brought by a group of electricity suppliers, who had asked the court to limit the power of the Illinois Commerce Commission to dictate from whom the suppliers must buy their electricity, ruling the question became moot when a largescale coal power plant project folded for lack of funds.
An attorney connected to powerful Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court to block a referendum from landing on the ballot, which would ask Illinois voters to reform the way Illinois creates the legislative districts from which state lawmakers are elected.
CHICAGO — An employee of an electrical contractor and the employee's wife are suing a utility and others, claiming the electrical worker suffered from lead poisoning as a result of the defendants' negligence.
A divided state appeals panel has reinstated a settlement agreement which had ended a dispute over how much a number of Will County property taxpayers actually should have paid in 2010, with a majority on the court saying the school districts can't undo the deal simply because they didn't like the result. A three-justice panel of the Illinois Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa overturned the decision of Will County Circuit Judge Barbara N. Petrungaro.
Dangerous alterations to a defunct power plant in Robbins, allegedly including disconnected aircraft warning lights on a tower structure, disabled fire suppression systems, and cut, live wires left easily accessible, have prompted the owner of the property to file suit against two companies he allowed to remove equipment from the site. The suit was filed July 31 in Cook County Circuit Court.