Commonwealth Edison (or "ComEd"), owned by Exelon Corporation, is the largest electric
utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago
and Northern Illinois area. The service territory roughly borders I-80 to the south, the Wisconsin border to the north, the Iowa border to the west, and the Indiana
border to the East. Most of South and Central Illinois power is supplied by Ameren.
Commonwealth Edison's transmission lines operate at voltages of 69,000, 138,000, 345,000, and
765,000 volts, delivering power to their 5.2 million customer base. The company's revenues total more than $15 billion
annually.
Additionally, Commonwealth Edison has been improving service reliability since 1998, reducing interruptions by more than
44%.[1]
History
Commonwealth Edison was founded by Samuel Insull, who had been Thomas Edison's secretary and a founder of Edison General Electric, which became General Electric, before
he came to Chicago to head Commonwealth Edison, which was a merger of Commonwealth Electric and Chicago Edison. He also founded
Public Service, which developed rural electrification in the area of northern Illinois outside Chicago. According to at least one
source [2] he was also the earliest to develop transmission
companies, in the 1920's, which concept was undermined by the development of Public Utility Commissions, in general, and the
Public Utilities Company Holding Act of 1935, in particular. Necessary regulation in that form has been overcome by recent
deregulatory measures, and we are back to square one. ComEd is now owned by Exelon.
Misleading Television Ads
In January 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) was
behind Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE), an organization that had been running television ads in Illinois
against a proposed statewide freeze in electricity rates.[3] The campaign uses a commonly used corporate tactic referred to as astroturfing, in which corporations fund organizations that appears to be grassroots or consumer rights focused to lobby on the
corporation's behalf with politicians and the public.
With ominous music in the background, CORE's television ad suggests that the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001 was caused by government regulation of
electricity rates and claims that attempts to freeze Illinois electricity rates could have the same result. It cites unnamed
"independent" experts and includes a four word quote ("There are genuine risks") from an October 4, 2006 editorial in the Chicago
Tribune.[4] The ad contains no reference to ComEd, despite
the fact that the corporation provided $10 million in funding for CORE, and that the CORE advisory board is peppered with members
tied to ComEd, including John T. Hooker, senior vice president of legislative & external
affairs at ComEd.[3]
Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn is attempting to force to put the ComEd
name on the ads in a complaint filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission. In response, the
commission ordered an investigation of the connections between ComEd and CORE.[3]
Deceptive Billing Practices
ComEd is currently investigating reports that its own recurring practices tend to frustrate posting of payments of customer
bills by their due dates, though paid in a timely manner. Though once thought to be an isolated problem, certain consumer
advocacy groups have alleged that the practice of delayed posting, resulting in late fees and penalties is a widespread practice
by this utility, where other utilities that actually require accounting of their receivables in a timely manner never engage in
this practice without purpose of deception. Similar accounting frauds have marred the reputation of the industry.[citation needed]
ComEd devised a means by which a customer might DEFER payment of the 22% increase, which increase became effective as of January
1, 2007, but which deferment is subject to an interest figure of over 3% on the unpaid portion of the increase. [5]
References
- ^ [1] ComEd Website
- ^ Transmission Owners Face Big Decisions November 1, 2002
- ^ a b c Yednak, Crystal
ComEd is behind `consumer' warning Chicago Tribune. January 5, 2007.
Retrieved on January 5, 2007
- ^ CORE Television ad on
their website
- ^ [2] Electric Rate Gouging, an Editorial in the Northwest Herald
External links
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