Populism and power

Editorial,
Chicago Tribune
Jan 9, 2007

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones is going to take a lot of heat for refusing to back House Speaker Michael Madigan's proposal to freeze electricity rates for three years. But Jones is right on this.

Madigan's proposal to extend the nearly decade-old freeze on rates, which passed the House on Sunday, does consumers no favor. Commonwealth Edison residential rates are due to rise an average 22 percent. Blocking that increase for three years would have serious consequences. It would guarantee that Illinois utilities couldn't charge customers enough to cover the cost of buying power at prices set by an auction last September. It would place at risk the reliability of electricity service. It would tell companies that might want to venture into the Illinois market that they'll have to factor political meddling into the cost of doing business here.

Jones has proposed to put a cap on rate increases at 7 percent the next two years, 8 percent the third year. That measure passed the Senate in November but won't be considered in the House unless Madigan gives the green light.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Commerce Commission last month unanimously approved a plan to ease the sticker shock for consumers. Consumers could cap their rate hikes at up to 10 percent a year for three years and defer the rest. (They would pay 3.25 percent interest on the amount deferred.)

Jones and Madigan have a stalemate—which is fine. They ought to be working together, instead, on how to promote more competition in electricity markets.

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