Consumer groups hand deliver 10k comments opposing $144M Peoples Gas rate hike

CHICAGO — Environmental and consumer advocates marched through downtown Chicago on Thursday to deliver more than 10,000 petitions urging regulators to reject Peoples Gas’ latest rate case.

“The Chicagoans who have made comments have made it clear that the change we’re calling for can’t wait any longer,” said Levi Orgas, an associate with Illinois Public Interest Research Group.  “Today, we renew our call to the Illinois Commerce Commission, made louder by thousands of Chicagoans, to end the pipe replacement program as we know it and to slash the rate hike.”

Advocates assembled to speak with the media before carrying the petitions several blocks to a public meeting of the ICC, which is responsible for approving, rejecting or modifying the rate increase. It is expected to issue a final order in November.

Peoples Gas, which delivers natural gas to nearly 900,000 customers in the city of Chicago, requested a $202 million rate increase in January, before lowering the ask to $144 million. If approved in full by the ICC, the new rate would increase average household bills by $7-8 per month starting in 2027.

Read more: Peoples Gas files $202 million rate increase request with Illinois regulatory body | Peoples Gas cuts $58 million from rate request

Administrative law judges at the ICC submitted a proposed order earlier this month that recommended lowering the rate hike to $66.2 million, but advocates are calling for even deeper cuts and seeking an overhaul of the utility’s long-embattled program to retire aging lead pipes that run below Chicago’s streets.

Peoples Gas spokesman David Schwartz said the spending was necessary to retire 1,000 miles of pipes as directed by the commission and characterized the advocates’ demonstration as political.

“It’s unfortunate that political groups continue trying to mislead Chicagoans,” Schwartz said in a statement. “These activists want to force Chicagoans onto an all-electric heating system that costs $75,000 per home to install, would double or triple heating bills, and would be much less reliable. No Chicagoan wants that.”

Orgas acknowledged that electrification has variable up-front costs, but said electrification is often a cheaper solution in the long run and would be necessary as the state moves toward its carbon-free goals.

She also objected to Schwartz’s framing of choice.

“Gas isn’t a choice. Gas was in your home when you moved in, or in your apartment when you moved in,” Orgas said. “You didn’t choose that either, and no one’s being forced to electrify their homes.”

The advocates at Thursday’s demonstration continued their call for an overhaul to the ICC’s pipe retirement mandate, instead seeking greater emphasis on non-pipe alternatives and more targeted prioritization of the most at-risk pipes.

People, profits

Speaking to reporters before delivering the petitions, advocates from the Citizens Utility Board, Illinois PIRG, and other groups outlined residents’ bill concerns.

“As a member of CUB’s outreach team, I often talk to Peoples Gas customers who are struggling to afford their heating bills,” said Karen Tolentino, CUB Español’s outreach coordinator. “The numbers show that the utilities’ reckless spending on their pipeline program has sparked a heating affordability crisis here in the city.”

State data shows that nearly one in five Peoples Gas customers were at least 30 days behind on their bills as of September, the latest data available.

That challenge is felt especially acutely by senior residents, according to AARP Illinois President Al Hollenbeck, who read testimonials from AARP members.

“Mary has arthritis and neuropathy. She has to keep the heat high in the winter. Her sole source of income: Social Security,” Hollenbeck said. “Eunice tells us, ‘Sure seems like the executives and the shareholders of People Gas are doing pretty well. Not me.’”

Read more: ‘A hardship’: Peoples Gas customers rally against requested rate hike | Cut with ‘an axe’: Watchdogs, AG call for massive cuts to Peoples Gas rate request

The demonstration fell on the same day as Peoples Gas’ parent company WEC Energy Group released its third-quarter earnings report, showing a 43.5% increase in profits for shareholders compared to the same time last year.

Peoples Gas rejected the connection, pointing out that WEC Energy serves customers in four Midwestern States. The earnings of the parent company have “practically nothing to do with Peoples Gas,” the company said, adding that the earnings were driven by warmer weather and large commercial customers in Wisconsin.

But Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter, pointed to the emphasis on affordability in political messaging in the lead up to the November midterm elections.

“As that date approaches, it seems like everyone is telling us their plans for making our lives more affordable,” Darin said. “Everyone, that is, except for major fossil fuel corporations like Peoples Gas.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.