A group that may have influence over lawmakers wants them to nix ComEd's proposal to change Illinois' electricity rates. It's an issue the General Assembly may tackle in its post-election veto session. Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky reports.
Your electricity bill is currently based how many kilowatts you use each month. ComEd say it wants to update to something known as "demand charges." A household's rate would be set based on how much electricity it used when demand was at its highest the previous billing cycle.
Abe Scarr, with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, says that would leave consumers.
"with a confusing, hard to understand, hard to manage, electricity bill."
ComEd has gotten controversial laws passed in Springfield before. But it has counted support from Chicago lawmakers. They may be less inclined to get on board now that six city alderman and Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia have signed onto a letter with PIRG and the AARP that says the change would especially hurt people on fixed incomes.
A spokeswoman for ComEd says the letter has its facts wrong; she says more than three-quarters of low-income customers will save on their electric bills.
