SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — A consumer advocate is calling for utility reform after multiple corruption-related convictions related to ComEd.
Citizens Utility Board Director of Governmental Affairs Bryan McDaniel said the series of trials have been “sad and infuriating” for Illinois consumers.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was convicted on 10 counts of corruption last month, including four counts related to ComEd.
Five convictions against the ComEd Four defendants, who were found guilty in 2023, remain in place after a judge tossed four counts on Monday.
McDaniel urged Illinoisans to support Senate Bill 1275, filed by state Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs. McDaniel said the measure is aimed at preventing utility companies from enhancing their political power with consumer dollars.
“You want to spend money on these things, that’s fine, utility, but you can’t recover it from your customers any more. You shouldn’t be increasing your political power through customers’ wallets. You ought to be pushing political power through your own wallet,” McDaniel told The Center Square.
McDaniel said Connecticut, Colorado and Maine have passed similar legislation.
“We’re paying more because of utility power, and so part of our legislative agenda is trying to chip away at that power,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said Illinois gas, electric and water bills include charges for utility memberships and trade associations.
“And then those trade associations show up to lobby against consumers,” McDaniel explained, adding that consumers also pay for utilities’ goodwill advertising, insurance plans to protect utility shareholders and also outside lawyers and witnesses in rate cases.
“So we get to pay for outside lawyers and witnesses to help them raise our utility rates. These kinds of charges are what help build utility political power and influence,” McDaniel explained.
McDaniel said he sometimes feels like the bad guy in Springfield because he is greatly outnumbered by utility companies.
“Utilities paint a picture of what is actually going on in society with utility rates, and most of the time it is not that well-connected to reality,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel also expressed support for Illinois House Bill 1621, filed by state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Bridgeview, which would prevent utilities from making campaign contributions to people seeking municipal or state office.
“I can tell you that’d be wonderful if that bill could pass. We’ll see,” McDaniel said.
Campaign donations and campaign events were discussed several times during the Madigan trial in Chicago. The longtime speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois chair is awaiting a forfeiture bench trial in early May and sentencing on 10 corruption-related counts at a later date.
In the related ComEd Four case, four people were convicted of corruption charges in 2023, and ComEd agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.
One of the four defendants, former lobbyist and Illinois state Rep. Michael McClain, D-Quincy, was not convicted in the Madigan trial. McClain, Jay Doherty, John Hooker and Anne Pramaggiore face sentencing on five charges from the ComEd Four case after U.S. District Court Judge Manish Shah tossed four counts on Monday.
By JIM TALAMONTI
Illinois Radio Network
