Under its new chairman Brien Sheahan, the Illinois Commerce Commission voted Wednesday 3-1 to raise Peoples Gas bills despite pleas from residents not to increase rates.
Peoples Gas customers will see their average monthly bills increase by $2.70 to $2.75. North Shore customers' average monthly bills will increase by $1.05 to $1.10.
The increases take effect Feb. 1.
The commission held the line, however, on an attempt by the utilities to shift more costs on to the fixed charge portion of utility bills. As the Tribune previously reported, fixed fees have risen 199 percent for Peoples Gas customers since 2007.
Consumer advocates and environmental groups had lobbied against raising the fixed fees, saying such fees discourage consumers from conserving energy. The reason, they said, is that no matter how much consumers turn down their thermostats the fixed portion would remain constant in monthly bills.
"While this ruling limits the company's rate increase request, it still means that Peoples Gas customers are paying the highest rates in the state to a company with a poor record of performance and operational maintenance," said Natalie Bauer Luce, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Chicagoans who spoke at the meeting urged the commission not to increase rates. One man called the utility "greedy money-changers." The rate hikes were requested by Peoples Gas and North Shore, whose parent company is Chicago-based Integrys.
Mary Bailey, a Peoples Gas customer for more than 30 years, cried as she told the commission that because she couldn't afford to pay her gas bill, Peoples Gas turned off her gas last year. After several months without heat, she said, her pipes and radiators burst and will cost her thousands of dollars to repair.
"Commissioners," she said, with emotion, "it is expensive to be poor, and another rate increase only makes it worse. For lack of a few hundred dollars, they disconnected me from a lifeline."
Peoples' $27 fixed fee would have jumped 43 percent to $38.50 a month if the rate hike had been approved. North Shore Gas customers, who pay a fixed monthly charge of $23.75, would have seen the fee increased to $29.55, a 24 percent boost, under the proposed hike.
Citizens Utility Board Executive Director David Kolata said he was please the Illinois Commerce commission reduced the company's original request by 30 percent but called it "cold comfort" to customers paying bills they've already seen increase several times since 2008.
Sheahan, 45, the newly installed commission chairman, was a key adviser to Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign. The vote was his first act on the commission. He is former director of government relations at Navistar, the Lisle-based maker of trucks and engines, and served for two years as general counsel to the Illinois Republican Party.
He last worked at the Commerce Commission 15 years ago as an attorney. He served as a DuPage County Board member from 2002 to 2012.
The commission voted with four members present. Commissioner Miguel del Valle voted no because, he said, not enough had been done by the utilities to lower costs for customers. The terms of former ICC Chairman Doug Scott and Commissioner John Colgan ended this week. A second replacement has not been named.
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