The Illinois Senate Executive Committee unanimously approved a request by ComEd and Ameren to "clarify" a 2011 law that allowed the utilities to raise electricity rates, Illinois Public Radio reports.
The clarification would allow the power companies to retroactively charge higher rates for the electricity you've already used, potentially raising up to $70 million for ComEd, according to Sun-Times Media.
The 2011 law changed the formula used to determine charges.
But the utilities say it didn't work as intended. They say regulators aren't letting them charge what they need. Now the companies are back, asking the legislature to pass another law, clarifying the old one.
(Says) ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore: "Without it we are stalled in these programs. We can't proceed forward and ramp them up as we intended."
The measure that passed out of committee Thursday will head to the Senate for a full vote. Listen to IPR's Amanda Vinicky's radio report.
At the time the 2011 law passed, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed it but the legislature overrode his veto.
And in other financial news that galls ...
The Jesse Jackson Jr. Collection: Using money donated to his campaign, ex-congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. bought pricey memorabilia honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Jackson, Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee, along with minks, furs and a gold Rolex. Read more in the full federal complaint posted on Chicago Heights Patch
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