Jun 15, 2007 6:47 pm US/Central
Consumers May Finally Get Electric Rate Relief
Deal Being Finalized Under Pressure From Madigan
by Mike Flannery
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
After months of bitter bargaining at the state capitol, it looks like consumers are closer than ever to getting some real relief from the soaring cost of electricity.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reported last month that utilities were offering about $1 billion. He says that deal's now being finalized.
If the $1 billion deal does go through, consumer advocates say one man in particular deserves credit for the rate relief.
"It's largely to the credit of Speaker Madigan," said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board. "Without his role and his strong advocacy on this issue, I don't think we'd be in this position."
During his long confrontation with ComEd, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan endured savage criticism in newspaper editorial pages and elsewhere. But he forced ComEd's parent company, Exelon, to bring big bucks to the negotiating table.
Madigan and his allies point to a utility power play. In October, 2000, Exelon took ComEd's huge nuclear plants and paid its subsidiary not in cash, but in a mysterious $4.7 billion of "goodwill." In 2005 and 2006, ComEd admitted $2 billion of the "goodwill" was worthless.
"Had Commonwealth Edison gotten hard assets instead of $4.9 billion of 'goodwill' for the nuclear power plants, we wouldn't be having this problem right now," said State Rep. George Scully (D-Flossmoor).
South suburban Rep. Scully is Madigan's point man on the issue. They are pushing for new rules to regulate the ComEd-Exelon relationship.
"Right now, we don't have a competitive market," Scully said. "Commonwealth Edison and Exelon still have a functional monopoly in the state of Illinois.
Madigan wants to enact regulatory reform and rate relief by the practical deadline next month.
As for those billions of dollars in worthless "goodwill," ComEd notes that the Illinois Commerce Commission was informed at the time and let the deal go.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
