Over the years, utilities have made it acceptable to recover some of their costs from ratepayers that should be charged to their shareholders! They routinely charge ratepayers for the cost of a range of activities without the ratepayers knowledge. The Utility Transparency Act would prohibit utilities from charging ratepayers for:
Hiring outside lawyers and witnesses to raise rates
- Paying for memberships in trade associations to lobby against the interests of ratepayers
- Purchasing insurance to protect shareholders from potential losses
- Buying goodwill advertising to enhance the utilities image, to the financial benefit of shareholders
The Utility Transparency Act would also,
- Require at least one Public Hearing on utility rate increase requests
- Make Intervenor Compensation Fund (ICF) money non-recoverable from ratepayers going forward in future rate cases
Connecticut, Colorado, and Maine have passed similar legislation. If enacted, for the average year, this bill would save ratepayers across Illinois approximately $40 million.
350 Chicago is working with the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and a statewide coalition to advocate for Utility Transparency and stop the utilities from charging you to lobby for higher rates to fatten their profits.
If you would like to tell your state representative and state senator to support the Utility Transparency Act, you can sign the form urging them to support the act here.
If your organization would like to endorse the Utility Lobbying Reform Campaign and join the coalition, please add your organization’s support by signing on here.