As lieutenant governor, part of my job is to “sell” Illinois as a good location for a new or expanding business. I have seen the damage done by the high cost of electricity as some businesses look elsewhere to make investments.
According to a recent Clemson University study, Illinois consumers could save at least $2.7 billion annually by busting the electric utility monopolies and giving consumers a choice of suppliers. These savings would be realized by residential, commercial and industrial consumers.
An immediate and dramatic drop in the average cost of electricity to business would remove a significant barrier to the further expansion of our economic base. Energy-intensive industries would be more likely to make investments, expand operation and create new jobs. Just as important, families would get some relief when they flip a light switch or turn on the air conditioner.
The legislation (Senate Bill 55) now pending in the General Assembly falls far short of delivering the benefits that consumers deserve.
I agree with the critics, including members of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who believe that Senate Bill 55 is seriously flawed. Fortunately, the Illinois Senate did not rush to judgment on this legislation this spring, and the legislature still has an opportunity to correct the deficiencies. We need legislation that moves Illinois into a free and competitive environment for the production, movement and sale of electricity and provides for equitable rate relief for all classes of consumers.
Senate Bill 55 has several problems:
– It would protect the nuclear investments of Commonwealth Edison and Illinois Power and would mandate a rate reduction for CILCO, a utility that has cut costs and achieved a lower than average rate for a Midwest utility.
– Consumers who leave an existing supplier and then tried to return later would be penalized.
– Existing utilities could target certain classes of customers with special rates to forestall new entrants into the marketplace.
– It would all but prevent independent producers of cheaper electricity from building new facilities in Illinois.
– And even though taxpayers recently paid $1 billion of the debt of the Illinois rural electric cooperatives (to lower rates in anticipation of an open and free marketplace), the bill exempts those cooperatives from competition.
Legislators must listen to the concerns of the Illinois Commerce Commission and revisit the issue in the broadest terms and not proceed with the notion that this legislation be reintroduced with minor surgical repairs. This bill is in need of massive reconstructive surgery.
Our summer electric bills are a not-so-gentle reminder that we need to change the way we buy our electricity in Illinois. We have the opportunity to help most Illinoisans keep more of their earnings by giving them the freedom to choose their electric supplier.
