May 31, 2007 7:39 pm US/Central
Lawmakers Negotiating For Electric Rate Relief
Democrats And Republicans Negotiating With Utility Officials
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) ―
ComEd and a possible rate rollback and freeze were in the spotlight Thursday in Springfield. Lawmakers were wheeling and dealing to decide what to charge for electricity in Illinois.
ComEd desperately wants to keep that rate hike in place, but some members of the General Assembly were fighting to give consumers a break.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports on the frantic last-minute negotiations.
Those negotiations continued Thursday evening and with a 24 percent rate increase having taken effect in January, for the average Illinois consumer there are literally hundreds of dollars at stake, making it the ultimate pocketbook issue in Springfield.
It's no exaggeration to say that until the electric rate issue is resolved, nothing else will move forward in Springfield, including the state budget.
While the General Assembly debated dozens of bills in public Thursday, the capitol's most important business was taking place in private, in the conference room of House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Although he stayed out of sight Thursday, it was fear of Madigan's political muscle that forced the state's electric utilities to offer hundreds of millions dollars more in rate relief than they ever had before.
"As of last night there was a firm $500 million on the table and that's been increasing today … almost by the minute," said Republican State Sen. Christine Radogno, of Lemont.
Sources said John Rowe, the boss of Exelon and ComEd, was personally involved in this latest round of negotiations. Utility companies are desperate to block bills that are nearing final passage.
Those bills would roll back January's 24 percent rate hike for ComEd customers and freeze rates for three more years.
ComEd said in a written statement that, "These bills … would be subject to legal challenges and would not provide any immediate relief to customers."
"There's an electric rate crisis in Illinois and we have to solve it. So we still have a ways to go, but I am cautiously optimistic that there will be a resolution," said David Kolata of the Citizens Utility Board.
"I'm very optimistic because I think there's the will on both sides to try and reach an agreement on this," said Democratic State Rep. George Scully.
While sources told CBS 2 that Madigan was seeking as much as $1.5 billion in rate relief for residential and small business customers, those sources also said utility companies were close to offering about $1 billion.
It was not clear if they would get an agreement completed by Thursday's midnight deadline to pass a state budget without requiring a three-fifths majority.
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