It would be criminal to grant Commonwealth Edison another rate increase. This would just continue killing of its area of operations. Here are some figures which the Illinois Commerce Commission should consider during its deliberations about Com Ed`s rates:
Since 1974, when Com Ed`s huge rate rises began, Com Ed`s growth in sales of kilowatt hours has risen only 14.8 percent. However, nationally, such sales have increased by 29.7 percent. The electric utilities to our north and south (which charge between 40 percent and 50 percent less than Com Ed) grew by 34.5 percent (Illinois Power) and 47.6 percent (Wisconsin Electric).
It is obvious that Com Ed is pricing itself out of its market, and the people of northeastern Illinois are the definite losers-as is reflected by the unemployment rate, which is 33.3 percent higher than the national rate.
Com Ed is killing itself and dragging the people of northern Illinois down with it. We are confident that the ICC will not allow this to happen and will reduce the rates. A company should not be allowed to cause the degradation of its area of operations.
