Regulators approve $606M rate hike for ComEd's revised clean energy plan

A year after rejecting ComEd’s clean energy plan, state regulators have approved a revised approach that will hike electricity rates by $606 million over the next four years, hitting Chicago area customers’ bills slightly less than the utility had sought.

The Illinois Commerce Commission on Thursday lowered ComEd’s requested rate increase by 11% in a unanimous decision that drew measured optimism from the utility, which is shouldering the brunt of the state's clean energy transition — and from consumer advocates who have accused the company of wasteful spending.

Commissioners signed off on spending $1.5 billion through 2027 to bolster the grid in pursuit of ambitious goals outlined in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act that was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2021. The state is aiming to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2030 while weaning the state off fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources by 2050.

Last year, the commission rejected the initial grid plan filed by ComEd for failing to “sufficiently consider affordability,” but approved a four-year, $506 million hike. This week’s ruling sets the overall increase on ComEd’s 4 million customers at roughly more than $1 billion.

ComEd, which is owned by the publicly traded Exelon Corp., previously asked regulators to increase its profit rate up to about 10.7%, but the commission kept their return on equity at 8.9%.

The impact on household bills, which will see adjustments in the next few weeks, “will vary based on service class and energy usage,” according to the commission.

Commission chairman Doug Scott said the plan gives ComEd “the tools necessary to make needed investments to drive the clean energy transition and continue modernizing Illinois’ electric grid.

“These plans are a key component to meeting the goals of CEJA and represent significant improvement in meeting its requirements. The investments approved today will deliver significant benefits to the utilities’ customers in an affordable, cost-effective manner,” Scott said in a statement.

ComEd spokesman John Schoen said the decision “appears to provide us with the necessary direction and certainty needed for critical grid investments and to enable Illinois’ ambitious clean energy and economic development goals.”

“We are reviewing the order to ensure a comprehensive understanding of its findings and their implications,” Schoen said in an email.

Citizens Utility Board executive director Sarah Moskowitz called it “a step in the right direction that the ICC has cut ComEd’s wasteful spending by hundreds of millions of dollars.”

“Of course, an increase of any kind will be difficult to bear for far too many customers who have been hit with multiple rate hikes from a scandal-plagued utility over the last decade. We still have a lot of work to do to secure a clean, affordable energy future for ComEd customers,” Moskowitz said in a statement.

Last year, two former ComEd executives and two former consultants were convicted of a nearly decadelong conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to pass legislation favorable to ComEd.

Madigan is on trial for federal racketeering charges, including some stemming from the ComEd case.

The utility paid a $200 million fine and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators' wide-ranging public corruption probe under a deferred prosecution agreement in 2020.

Brad Klein, managing attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center, hailed the commission's "milestone order," saying it "lays the foundation for essential grid investments that will accelerate the clean energy transition and enhance reliability while cutting unnecessary costs."