CONSUMER ADVOCATES URGE REGULATORS TO CUT NICOR'S RECORD RATE HIKE BY MORE THAN HALF; DECRY EXCESSIVE PROFITS, WASTEFUL EXECUTIVE BONUSES

Yahoo

07-05-2025

CHICAGO, May 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Nicor Gas' bid for a record-breaking $308.6 million rate hike is rife with excesses and should be slashed by more than half, according to testimony submitted to state regulators by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), Illinois PIRG, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and other consumer advocates.
Citizens Utility Board Logo (PRNewsfoto/Citizens Utility Board)
CUB warned the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) that more than $111 million in the rate hike proposal – including a lavish profit rate for Nicor shareholders and wasteful spending on executive bonuses – doesn't pass legal muster and should be rejected. When the Illinois Attorney General's recommendations are taken into consideration, the requested cuts surge to nearly $153 million, according to testimony filed by the state's chief legal officer. And that total still doesn't account for all of the reductions identified by other parties in the case.
Nicor's proposal would represent the largest rate hike for a gas utility in Illinois history.
"This testimony exposes Nicor's bald-faced attempt to capture exorbitant shareholder profits–an all-too-familiar theme for the utility's customers who have already suffered from exorbitant rate hikes in recent years," said CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz, who urged Nicor customers to sign a petition against the rate hike at CUBActionCenter.com . "We urge the ICC to stand up for Nicor customers and slash the utility's request for a record rate hike."
This is Nicor's fifth rate-hike request since 2017. Between 2017 and 2024, the utility has raised delivery rates by 114 percent, totaling $747 million, and its parent, Southern Co., has raked in $25.2 billion in profits.
"It's time for Nicor to move beyond business-as-usual practices that have already more than doubled its rates in under a decade," said Illinois PIRG Director Abe Scarr. "By considering alternatives to new fossil fuel infrastructure, Nicor can maintain system integrity while reducing rate increases and facilitating the transition to safer, cleaner energy."
"In 2023, the Commission warned Nicor it would need to plan for a gas system that meets Illinois decarbonization goals. Two years later, that change is not happening fast enough," said EDF Senior Attorney Curt Stokes. "EDF, along with our allies, has filed testimony charting a better course. It is our hope that Nicor will take our suggestions seriously and update its plan; if not, we will ask the Commission to order them to."
Experts sponsored by Illinois PIRG and EDF analyzed Nicor's proposals and asked the Commission to reduce planned gas-pipeline spending by more than $80 million, because Nicor failed to adequately consider alternatives such as repairs or "non-pipeline alternatives" like targeted electrification.