Attorney General Kwame Raoul expressed disappointment with the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) announcement that it will not revisit its Aug. 17 decision ordering Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) to refund $38 million to customers, which is $7 million less than what the Attorney General had advocated be returned to customers.
“I am disappointed the ICC will not revisit its prior decision that short changed consumers. ComEd is allowed to use complicated accounting maneuvers to reap additional profits from its own wrongdoing and out of the pockets of ratepayers,” Raoul said. “Consumers deserve the full refund; I will continue to push for keeping utility expenses in check and making utility bills more affordable. We will evaluate the ICC’s decision and determine appropriate next steps.”
Last month, Raoul, the city of Chicago and the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) filed an application for rehearing arguing that customers should receive larger refunds after ComEd financed a $200 million contribution from its parent company, Exelon Corporation, as an equity infusion to pay a criminal penalty. The penalty resulted from a July 2020 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) ComEd entered into to resolve a federal criminal investigation.
In the DPA, ComEd admitted to engaging in an unprecedented, eight-year bribery scheme to influence and reward former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan, in exchange for support in passing legislation favorable to ComEd and its business.
"While a $38 million refund was a step in the right direction, it's unfortunate that the ICC failed to order a bigger refund," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "ComEd shouldn't be allowed to employ creative accounting schemes to pass a penny of their criminal corruption fines onto ratepayers. The utility has a lot of work to do to repair its relationship with customers--an appropriate step forward would be giving customers a full, fair and just refund."
"I share Attorney General Raoul's disappointment in the ICC's decision to deny our joint application for rehearing," said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. "The city will continue to collaborate with the Attorney General and Citizens Utility Board in evaluating any additional steps we can take to ensure customers receive the refunds they are entitled to."
According to briefs filed by Raoul’s office, ComEd’s accounting treatment of Exelon’s $200 million contribution resulted in ComEd collecting $7 million more in revenues from its customers, which Raoul and the group recommended be refunded to customers. They also requested the equity infusion be removed in future rate proceedings to ensure customers do not pay higher rates as a result of how ComEd financed its DPA penalty payment.
“It's outrageous that we're paying higher utility bills because ComEd used creative accounting to boost its profits through paying its federal criminal penalty,” said Abe Scarr, Director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). “That's not the behavior of an institution taking responsibility for its wrongdoing and we're disappointed the Illinois Commerce Commission is allowing ComEd to get away with it. We thank Attorney General Raoul for fighting for a most basic level of accountability.”
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