The news out of Springfield hasn’t been promising these past few weeks. While unemployed and furloughed workers like Goodwill Industries’ Ashley Lyn are spending days on the phone trying to get relief money just so they can pay bills, little improvement has come. And yet, while some states are finding ways to reduce the costs of their residents during this pandemic, Illinois is taking actions that could raise rates.
At the end of April, Illinois utility regulators issued a call to repeal a pro-consumer federal order, called the Minimum Price Order Rule (MOPR). The rule seeks to offer customers the lowest energy rates available by requiring a full accounting of overall costs that consumers pay, including subsidies.
This is smart policy in Illinois, where the cost of subsidies are baked into the utility bills are paid directly by the consumer. For companies like nuclear giant Exelon, which receives over $230 million in aid every year from Illinois ratepayers, this level of honest transparency is particularly inconvenient. With all factors included, Exelon’s pricing far exceeds other electricity generators. Excluding some subsidy charges consumers pay from the cost calculations has allowed the company to hike user rates without having to admit it.
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