* Crain’s on yesterday’s abrupt retirement of Exelon Utilities CEO Anne Pramaggiore…
A Sept. 23 federal search warrant identified, but did not name, four separate Exelon officials in a request for items “related to” them “and/or any issue supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including but not limited to rate increases.”
Exelon and ComEd disclosed Oct. 9 that they were a focus of the Sandoval probe and that Exelon had established a special committee made up of independent directors to oversee compliance with the federal investigation. Two days later, the search warrant was made public.
A short time before, on Oct. 4, ComEd disclosed in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing that Fidel Marquez, senior vice president at ComEd in charge of government affairs, had retired Oct. 2.
The terse wording in Exelon’s press release didn’t give a reason for Pramaggiore’s retirement. A spokesman declined to comment on whether it had anything to do with the probe.
The official retirement date for Marquez may have been October 2, but word has been going around for a while that he left weeks ago. His Statehouse lobbying credentials were canceled on September 30th.
* Tribune…
In addition, the Illinois Senate was served with a search warrant late last month. The lengthy list of things authorities searched for included “items related to ComEd, Exelon, any employee, officer or representative of any of those businesses, Exelon Official A, Exelon Official B, Exelon Official C, Exelon Official D, and/or any issue supported by any of those businesses or individuals, including, but not limited to, rate increases.”
A source with knowledge of the investigation told the Tribune that Pramaggiore is one focus of the ongoing federal probe.
On Tuesday, Pramaggiore declined an interview request through a spokesman at a crisis communications firm. ComEd spokeswoman Jean Medina said she could not comment about Pramaggiore’s retirement beyond what was in a news release.
Pramaggiore was no bit player…
She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and serves on the Board of Directors for Motorola Solutions, Inc., Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises, the National Safety Council, and several civic and community organizations.
- Steve - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 9:58 am:
Pramaggiore is the top of the pyramid in corporate America. Someone like Pramaggiore knows many prominent politicians like Marty Sandoval, Alderman Ed Burke, and Alderman Danny Solis. Lot of events. Lots of donations.
- tildef - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 9:59 am:
Chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago AND McCook HVAC expert?
- A guy - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:03 am:
Not just hard to believe. This is one you just don’t even want to believe.
- Steve - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:06 am:
This isn’t the first time Anne Pramaggiore has dealt with icy waters .
https://nalert.blogspot.com/2019/10/photo-flashback-llinois-supreme-court.html
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:09 am:
If she didn’t commit a crime, then she has nothing to worry about. Who do you think ends up paying for ComEd’s largesse if that is in fact what happened? The ratepayers. I don’t really have any sympathy for her if she is guilty.
- rutro - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:11 am:
If they set up a specific charity for all the pols to donate all their comed/excelon money to? Who should it go to and how much would it traise?
- Howard - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:17 am:
Could ComEd, Exelon have become a non-disclosed non-reported silent arm of several political operations?
- Powdered Whig - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:25 am:
I find it hard to believe that she would have jeopardized her accomplished career on this nickel and dime stuff we are reading about in the papers. The feds better be on to something or they are simply tarnishing people’s reputations for nothing.
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:29 am:
The issues related to Exelon concern rate increases according to the subpoenas. That’s a ton of nickels and dimes.
- Red Ranger - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:31 am:
Nickel and dime stuff? Huh? You mean like bailouts of profitable public utilities or rate increases? So much of the Exelon/ComEd business model was based upon the actions of Springfield. Thats why they have an army of lobbyists. Pramaggiore was on of the most visible CEOs in Springfield of a company the size of Exelon.
- Two sides to every story - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:54 am:
Pramaggiore is a member of a very small sorority of female CEOs who rose to the top on their own, without the help of rich family members or compromised integrity. ComEd/Exelon needs to give their shareholders a sacrificial lamb to explain the subpoenas and the bad press, whether there’s a crime or not. My guess is that’s what’s happening here. The crappy part is the boys took down the woman.
- Not a Billionaire - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 10:54 am:
She is a Fortune 100 CEO . There is only one person in our state legislature that would come close in stature to a Fortune 10O CEO and it is not Sandovol.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 11:03 am:
Remember the guy who was in management at Exelon who left not long after revealing that his Exelon boss had Egyptian artifacts? he’s now the co chair of Jenner. what is it about power that makes people so stupid?
- Fav human - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 11:29 am:
I’ll bet she’s quietly removed from a lot of those other boards pretty quickly too.
- Nobody Sent - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 11:35 am:
Makes you wonder about those nuke bailouts they got in FEJA and the compensation for capacity they seek now to make even more money from their “clean” nuke plants
- Sue - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 11:46 am:
Comparing The now retired Exelon CEO to Elizabeth homes is slander.
- Fav human - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 11:53 am:
“jeopardized her accomplished career”
Actually this occurred to me too. I would expect doing the grunt work would fall to people lower down the food chain.
I’m wondering if she had to sign off on some special payments…
- DD - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 12:04 pm:
And who was CEO when they spent almost $17 MILLION in lobbying fees to get the SmartGrid bill passed? Yea, that would be the saintly Anne as well.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121215/ISSUE01/121219835/lobbying-power-surge
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 12:39 pm:
Sorry but the Feds don’t take “sacrificial lambs.” If they are focusing on her it’s because of evidence, not because of who she is.
- Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 12:58 pm:
It’s a little early for a eulogy, when did professional mourning come back into vogue?
Frank Clark is fondly remembered by many. I have never heard anyone say anything nice about Pramaggiore until today.
Don’t worry, probably no golden parachute with a federal investigation looming, but she’ll land on her feet I am sure.
- DD - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 1:14 pm:
Let me try again since Rich deleted my comment. It is patronizing to suggest that Anne P is anything but deeply enmeshed in the Springfield activities of the company - just as Frank Clark was before her. If there are questions about the conduct of the company and its relation to legislative activities - such as the jobs given to family members or political contributors, political contributions and charitable donations to politician’s favorite causes - those questions are just as much on her as the CEO as they are on anyone else at the company. Perhaps that’s why the Tribune said she is a focus of the Federal probe and why she and Fidel Marquez were forced into sudden retirement. That’s not slander. That’s responsibility.
- Muddy Boots - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 1:21 pm:
Paine at 12:58: Anne has made a lot of legitimate friends around town. Many, many people have said a lot of nice things about her over the last decade, and rightly so. She’s legitimately thoughtful, smart and caring. As an aside (and it shouldn’t matter but it does) she was clearly one of the top women CEO’s in the state, Midwest, and nation.
That being said, ComEd/Exelon is a lobbying firm that operates a utility and some nuclear plants, not the other way around. Their entire business model is dependent on favorable state laws. This investigation is a long time coming. Whatever
comes next will not be much of a surprise to people who have been paying attention.
- HNM - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 2:10 pm:
Frank Clark is at the Tollway with the new Executive Director Alvarez (another Sandavol friend) from CHA where John Hooker was board chairman. Seems like ComEd and the Tollway are intersecting at many areas. S/
- Nobody Sent - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 3:39 pm:
Those calling out ComEd/Exelon for their lobbying activity and other strong arm tactics are on target. They have been doing it for years. Eg: get an unfavorable ruling at the ICC, run down to the Capitol to get the law changed. Its about time somebody looked under that rug. Too bad it probably means any energy legislation this fall is shot - the State sorely needs to keep moving on renewables.
- Senator Clay Davis - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 5:18 pm:
Legislative leaders need to respond to this mess in the next major energy bill and include strict lobbying and political giving restrictions on public utilities, their parent companies and employees.
- DD - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 5:19 pm:
I like the way you think Clay Davis.
- Working night and day... - Wednesday, Oct 16, 19 @ 8:33 pm:
Some ideas for a veto session energy legislative agenda:
1. Make it illegal for a single company (Exelon) to own oth an electric generation company (loike Exelon Nuclear) and an electric distribution utility (like ComEd).
2. Disallow an electric distribution utility from recovering lobbying and legal expenses from ratepayers.