(The following is a paid advertisement)

“Making a market system that works here [in Illinois] is still a problem” that must be worked out. John Rowe, Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2006.

Mr. Rowe’s candid comments perfectly demonstrate the need for HB 5766 – the Electric Consumer Protection Act.

In June 2002, the General Assembly extended the rate freeze for two additional years because competition had yet to develop.

Now it’s 2006 and nothing has changed. Residential and small business customers still have no options. And, in the words of Mr. Rowe, our electric market is still problematic.

Let’s stay the course and extend the rate freeze just like we did before – as, under our current rate structure, Ameren and Exelon/ComEd have record profits, record earnings, and near-record share prices.

Then let’s work together to fix our broken market by adopting innovative policy solutions such as municipal aggregation, real time pricing, and a Power Development Authority to help finance cost-based coal gasification plants in southern Illinois.