Advocates Deliver 10,000 Comments Against Peoples Gas $144 Million Rate Hike

Consumer and environmental advocates marched through downtown Chicago on Thursday to deliver more than 10,000 petitions urging the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject a Peoples Gas rate increase, Capitol News Illinois reported.

Peoples Gas, which serves nearly 900,000 Chicago customers, cut its request from $202 million to $144 million during the case. If approved in full, average household bills would rise about $7 to $8 a month in 2027, Capitol News Illinois reported. Administrative law judges for the commission recommended a $66.2 million increase in a proposed order this month, Capitol News Illinois reported; the Chicago Sun-Times also reported a recommendation of about $66 million. A final ruling is expected in November.

Advocates, including Illinois PIRG, urged the commission to end the utility’s pipe replacement program “as we know it”; the program aims to retire about 1,000 miles of aging pipe. Peoples Gas spokesman David Schwartz said in a statement, “It’s unfortunate that political groups continue trying to mislead Chicagoans,” and that the spending is needed to retire the pipe as the commission directed. State data show nearly one in five Peoples Gas customers were at least 30 days behind on bills as of September, Capitol News Illinois reported.