Press Release: Jan 18, 2006 (9:08 am)

Diverse Membership Calls on General Assembly to Let the ICC Have Final Say in the Electricity Restructuring Debate.

SPRINGFIELD – Jan. 18, 2006 – Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE) today announced the expansion of its Advisory Committee.  The addition of such diverse and influential individuals reflects the momentum that CORE has gained throughout the state since its founding in late September 2005.

Among the new members are:

• Thomas Donovan, chairman, Quantum Crossings LLC
• Linda Heagy, managing partner, Heidrick & Struggles
• Martin King, chairman, Rainbow/PUSH board of trustees
• Newton Minow, senior counsel, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLC

With these new additions, CORE’s Advisory Committee now includes 21 Illinois business and community leaders.  These leaders represent more than 100,000 businesses and more than one million individuals. Additionally, CORE has registered nearly 3,000 supporters.  CORE membership represents an uncommon coalition of business, labor, community and energy groups that support the preservation of reliable electricity, the transition of the industry to competition and energy decisions made by the experts at the Illinois Commerce Commission. 

Illinois law, which was passed in 1997, requires utilities to buy energy in the open market beginning in 2007.  Following an 18-month stakeholder review process – led by the ICC – the ICC’s expert staff and nearly all the key players in Illinois’ energy industry endorsed a competitive bidding process as the best option for buying energy beginning in January 2007.  Under this plan, multiple companies would be required to compete to sell power to the utilities at the lowest possible price.  No bidder would supply more than 30% of the electricity to the utilities.

The ICC is set to make its final ruling on the auction proposal on or before Jan. 24, 2006.

“What I’m interested in is a fair process.  For nearly 100 years the ICC has been an independent arbitrator,” said Martin King, CORE Advisory Committee member and chairman of the Rainbow/PUSH board of trustees.  “The people of Illinois need reliable electricity and competitive prices.”

As recently as last month, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommended that the ICC approve the competitive bidding process as the best way for the electric utilities in Illinois to procure power beginning in 2007. 

 “Sound long-term energy policy should be made by experts,” said Tom Donovan, CORE Advisory Committee member and chairman of Quantum Crossings, LLC. “We need to get this right, and I’m hopeful that as a member of CORE, I can add my voice to the debate.”

For more information, visit the CORE web site at www.illinoiscore.org.

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