Don't Charge Customers For Gas They Don't Use

(Chicago, IL) How would you like to feel good about conserving your household's gas use - and then getting charged for the savings?
That's the issue facing the state's ICC right now.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan is urging the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to reject a controversial proposal from two natural gas utility companies that would impose surcharges on customers for the delivery of gas they do not use.
The gas companies' proposal would guarantee that the utilities would earn extra profits especially when customers use less gas.
In oral arguments before the ICC on January 23, consumer groups urged the commission to deny the request from Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company and North Shore Gas Company. They argued that the plan could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in extra charges for residential and small business customers.
The ICC is expected to hold public hearings to deliberate on this issue in Springfield today at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 10:30 a.m. The ICC must issue a final decision by Feb. 6.
The utilities' proposal would charge customers an extra fee to protect utility revenues - when customers conserve more than expected or when warm weather results in lower gas delivery sales, even if the company was earning the profits authorized by the ICC.
Many utility companies across the country describe decoupling as a way to protect energy revenues as consumers become more educated about energy conservation and, as a result, use less gas. It applies to the rates utilities charge to deliver gas, not to charges for natural gas itself. In Illinois, as in many states, utilities are permitted only to earn a profit on the delivery of gas and must pass through the cost of the gas commodity at the same market price they paid to obtain it.

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