* CBS Chicago…

Chicago elected officials and other representatives from Illinois are pushing back on Peoples Gas’ proposed $144 million rate hike.

A group of 38 alderpersons, state representatives, and state senators released a letter Tuesday, calling on the Illinois Commerce Commission to oppose the proposed hike, reject the utility’s request for a 10.1% profit rate, and continue to work to reform its Pipe Retirement Program.

The group says Peoples Gas has raised rates by nearly $500 million since 2011.

In July the utility submitted a new rate hike that slashed approximately $58 million from its original $202 million rate hike proposal, but watchdog groups said it was not enough.

* Center Square…

Jim Chilsen, communications director with the consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board, said the issue isn’t solely with record profits but also how the company is operating state mandated programs.

“This profit-hungry utility has put their customers through financial hell over the years. The statistics tell a grim story of utility greed. People’s gas is reckless and unnecessary spending in its pipeline program has helped raise rates by $499 million or 98% over the last 15 years,” Chilsen said. […]

Levi Orgas, an associate with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, said the program has historically been mismanaged, inefficient, and wasteful of ratepayer funds.

“Peoples Gas’ own data shows that this program produces only one cent, a single penny of benefit for every dollar spent on it. It’s time to end the pipe replacement program as we know it,” Orgas said. “Aggressive pipeline replacement has been shown to undermine system safety. All of this waste is bad enough, but to make it even worse, by spending billions of dollars on pipe replacement now, Peoples Gas is forcing the next generation of Chicagoans to continue paying for gas infrastructure they don’t need.”

* Capitol News Illinois…

Peoples Gas spokesperson David Schwartz told Capitol News Illinois that the company understands the concerns about affordability but defended the requested profit rate.

“The requested return on equity is lower than similar requests recently made by other natural gas companies in Illinois, as Peoples Gas tries to balance market conditions and affordability,” Schwartz said. “Postponing essential infrastructure work, though, is not a solution. That would greatly increase safety risks and costs.”

Sen. Graciela Guzmán, D-Chicago, said safety could not be a blank check for a program that has “repeatedly failed to deliver the results that Chicagoans were promised.”

“Spend smarter,” Guzmán told Peoples Gas. “Prioritize the pipes that actually pose the greatest risk. Consider less-expensive alternatives where they can do the job safely. And stop asking working families to finance decades of unnecessary fossil fuel infrastructure.”

* related…

* Borderless | State Regulators Rein In Peoples Gas Pipeline Replacement Effort After State Investigation: But over the last 14 years, Peoples Gas has only replaced 38% of pipes. The utility company has spent $3.3 billion on work that has already been completed, and the remaining work would cost $7.2 billion, according to Peoples Gas. Public interest groups criticized the estimates, arguing that the program’s estimated cost had ballooned from $1.42 billion in 2007 to $11 billion eight years later. Over a year ago, the ICC launched an investigation to examine whether the program, as it is managed, is cost-effective and practical and prioritizes the replacement of high-risk pipes.