State Rep. John Bradley said he would come down hard on the Illinois Commerce Commission if it votes in favor of Ameren's proposal to increase rates for its Illinois customers.
Bradley, a Marion Democrat, said he has prepared legislation to strip the commission of its responsibility of accepting or rejecting rate change requests from privately owned utility companies, such as Ameren. The Peoria-based power company has been battling the ICC to settle on the amount it can increase its rates.
The ICC is a five-member commission that governs ground transportation, approves utility rate changes and oversees better business in Illinois.
Bradley said he would give the ICC a chance to "do the right thing" and reject Ameren's request before he introduces the legislation to the Illinois House of Representatives.
Originally, Ameren submitted a request for $247 million. The commission's staff trimmed that amount to $163 million following a series of February public forums across the state, including one at the Williamson County Pavilion.
Beth Bosch, spokeswoman for the ICC, said the commission is likely to vote on Ameren's request tomorrow in Springfield, but could delay action until the Sept. 30 deadline.
Bradley said he spoke to the commission at its meeting in Chicago last week about the issue, and would again tomorrow.
This time, he will not be traveling alone.
A charter bus filled with at least 30 anti-Ameren activists will be leaving for Springfield from Marion tomorrow morning to be at the ICC's meeting.
"We probably could get one thousand to go, but the thing is the (ICC's) room is not that big," Bradley said.
Ameren's request comes more than one year after a 10-year energy rate freeze expired, which shot many electric bills up to 400 percent higher. At the February public forum in Marion, Ameren Vice President Craig Nelson said the company, which also delivers energy to customers in Missouri, needed the funds to compensate for the rising cost of maintaining its infrastructure.
Honoring Ameren's request would mean voters give back more than rate relief they received after the power companies jacked their rates. Ameren contributed nearly $150 million to that fund, while Commonwealth Edison put in more than $200 million. That means northern Illinois dollars aided the central and southern parts of the state.
Rep. Bradley has made a lot of noise since he began his first term in 2003. This year, he's supported a bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority, rejected a gambling expansion to finance the capital improvement bill and has led the charge in lobbying the ICC to reject Ameren's request.
Suppose the ICC votes in favor of Ameren tomorrow, and Bradley's threat of introducing this legislation is unleashed. I asked Rep. Bradley which body would assume responsibility for utilities if not the commission. To this, he did not have an immediate response.
Bradley's idea to trim the ICC's responsibilities could be a good one, but with the state of the state, it could be interesting to see which governing body he trusts to pick up the slack.
Lorimor is a sophomore studying journalism and political science.
