Lawmakers ponder rate freeze
Illinois House schedules rare joint committee on electric rates
Saturday, February 24, 2007
SPRINGFIELD - Bombarded with complaints from angry constituents, Illinois House members have scheduled an unusual "committee of the whole" hearing Tuesday to consider legislation to help consumers stunned by dramatically higher electricity bills.House Bill 1750 is a new version of previously unsuccessful legislation to reinstate the electric rate freeze that was lifted at the beginning of 2007.
The proposal House Democrats unveiled at a state Capitol news conference on Friday would roll back electric rates to their 2006 levels and revive the rate freeze for at least three years. It also would require utility companies to give refunds, plus interest, to consumers for the extra money they have been paying with the higher electricity rates.
"We were seriously misled as to the magnitude of these (electric rate) increases," said Rep. George Scully, a Flossmoor Democrat who is the main House sponsor of HB1750.
He said the financial blow has been particularly severe for customers of AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP - and especially for the customers who live in all-electric homes. For some, electric bills have doubled or tripled.
At the news conference, Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, held up a foot-high stack of papers - copies of power bills constituents have sent him. The unexpectedly high charges are creating hardships for people, he said.
A similar rate-freeze plan won House approval during the General Assembly session that concluded in early January, but it never came up for a Senate vote. If the updated legislation passes the House, it again would face an uncertain future in the Senate.
Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has opposed renewing the freeze because he believes it could jeopardize the reliability of electricity service.
Asked about the House Democrats' proposal on Friday, Jones said: "The members in the Senate have always acted responsibly, and they have the capacity to think for themselves. They don't have to be told what to think."
The state's two biggest electricity providers, St. Louis-based Ameren and Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison, oppose the plan.
"Any legislation that would freeze Ameren Illinois rates at the 2006 level would place those utilities in dire financial jeopardy," said Ameren Corp. spokesman Leigh Morris.
The rate freeze lifted this year had been in place since the state's 1997 electric deregulation law took effect. That law does not cover municipally owned utilities such as Springfield's City Water, Light and Power.
When legislators passed the deregulation law, they thought competition would develop among electric companies, enabling people to shop for electricity in the same way they shop for telephone service. But that has not occurred.
The end of the rate freeze meant higher rates this year for Illinoisans who get their electricity from Ameren or ComEd.
Sen. James Clayborne, an assistant Senate majority leader, chairs a Senate committee that is conducting a series of hearings throughout the state on the electricity issue. The remaining hearings are slated for Peoria, Waukegan and Chicago. No date has been set for the Peoria hearing.
He said a revived rate freeze would not provide a long-term solution to the present problem. Clayborne, a Belleville Democrat, said he favors a more "comprehensive approach" that would examine why power bills are so high and how consumers could get some relief.
"My fear with the freeze is that we will be in a worse position than we are now," said Clayborne.
The House "committee of the whole" meeting, which is open to the public, will be broadcast on the General Assembly's Web site: www.ilga.gov/house/audvid.asp.
Late Friday, three Republican senators issued a news release calling on Jones to schedule a similar "committee of the whole" meeting in the Senate about electric rates. The request came from Sens. Dale Risinger of Peoria, Bill Brady of Bloomington and John Jones of Mount Vernon.
