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Advocates Ask Regulators to Slash Nicor Gas’ $221 Million Rate Hike

The Illinois Commerce Commission will rule by December.

Overview

  • A coalition of consumer and environmental groups, which filed testimony Monday, asked the ICC to cut Nicor’s $221 million delivery-rate request, its sixth since 2017, by about 80%.
  • They say Nicor padded the case with an oversized profit rate, $19.1 million in executive bonuses, $5 million in legal costs, and ignored cheaper non-pipeline fixes the ICC ordered it to assess.
  • CUB says about 200,000 Nicor customers are behind on bills, owing roughly $74 million, which the group warns would make another delivery hike harder to absorb.
  • Nicor says the increase would fund work on pipelines and other aging equipment and would add less than $6 a month to a typical residential delivery charge.
  • The ICC must decide by early December whether to approve, reduce, or deny the request after reviewing the testimony and the company’s spending plans.