Press Release - Sunday, November 26, 2006
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Quinn calls on Illinois consumers to raise voices, demand immediate legislative action to extend electric rate freeze
With just three days left in the General Assembly's veto session, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is urging Illinois consumers to raise their voices against a proposed hike in electric rates and let their legislators know they expect immediate, effective action on the most pressing consumer issue to hit Illinois in a generation.
"This is a matter of simple economic justice," Quinn said in a news conference in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 26.
"If the General Assembly fails to take action to extend the current rate freeze, this unconscionable rate hike will increase electricity costs by 25 to 55% for consumers -- and even more for many business owners," Quinn said. "We cannot sit back and let the multimillionaires at Exelon/ComEd and Ameren fatten their wallets at the expense of millions of hard-working Illinois men and women.
"Consumers throughout Illinois need to call, write, e-mail - or visit -- their legislators," Quinn said. "You need to let your lawmakers know that you oppose the electric rate increase and support extension of the rate freeze. Let your voice be heard in Springfield, and encourage every member of the General Assembly to stand up to protect the rights of Illinois consumers."
Quinn reminded legislators that, if they fail to pass a rate freeze extension in the coming week, Governor Rod Blagojevich has promised to call a special session to pass a rate freeze extension. In a letter sent Oct. 2 to the General Assembly's top leadership, Governor Blagojevich promised that "such a session will continue for as long as necessary to reach the intended result, even if it is extended through the holiday season."
The Lt. Governor has been fighting to protect consumers from the proposed rate hike since September, when the Illinois Commerce Commission announced that the results of a so-called reverse auction of electric power providers would leave consumers facing backbreaking hikes in their electric rates.
Although ComEd and Ameren have mounted high-priced public relations campaigns to frighten consumers with threats of massive layoffs, widespread power outages and even corporate bankruptcy, Quinn has continued to remind consumers and lawmakers alike that these utility companies are already banking record profits under the current statewide rate freeze.
"These giant utilities are trying to dupe Illinois consumers into believing that these enormous proposed rate increases reflect the actual cost of power," Quinn said. "As the New York Times reported just this week, the current market system for electrical power is unfair and only serves to line the pockets of these greedy utility companies and their overpaid multimillionaire executives. The idea that these proposed rate increases reflect a competitive market is complete baloney."
Earlier this month, the New York Times business section featured Quinn's analysis of the paychecks of the utility companies' top execs in a lengthy article on "outsize executive compensation." In the article, Times columnist Gretchen Morgenson noted that Ameren and Exelon "are delighted at the prospect of getting out from under the rate freeze."
Morgenson's column cited Quinn's analysis that showed an extended rate freeze would threaten Ameren execs' ability to treat themselves to a whopping $213 million in company stock, and noted that Exelon - now threatening ComEd's bankruptcy if the rate freeze is extended - had enough spare cash last year to pay its top five executives a grand total of $47 million.
To deceive its customers, ComEd has created a front group, "Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity" (CORE), and has poured millions into a deceptive ad campaign intended to frighten customers into supporting ComEd's unfair rate hike proposal.
Quinn, who has unearthed state documents that show CORE registered as a lobbyist organization for ComEd, has asked the Illinois Commerce Commission for a formal investigation of the links between the two.
"ComEd has propped up this phony group - CORE - to provide fake consumer support for its plan," Quinn said. "We can't allow these highly paid lobbyists and their noisy protesters-for-hire to overshadow the real feelings of true Illinois consumers."
Quinn's fight to protect Illinois consumers from unfair utility rate increases has been joined by Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and AARP, along with many legislators and other grassroots organizations. In 1983, Quinn spearheaded creation of CUB, a non-partisan not-for-profit organization that advocates for utility rate payers.
For more information on the Lt. Governor's battle to protect Illinois consumers from the proposed electricity rate hikes, visit the website at www.StandingUpForIllinois.org.
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