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Quinn signs pro-consumer bills, but one goes unmentioned

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Illinois

* Gov. Pat Quinn signed four consumer protection bills into law yesterday, including this one…

Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Wednesday to outlaw “cramming,” a practice in which third-party companies place unwanted an unauthorized charges on a customer’s phone bill.

The charges usually go unnoticed by consumers, who are typically billed anywhere from $5 to $45 for services ranging from calling cards to voice mail and extended warranties they never signed up for.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan estimates cramming impacts as many as 20 million households across America each year, raising $2 billion for companies she calls “scammers.”

* The governor made the announcement at the Citizens Utility Board office in Chicago. Here are the other bills he signed, from a Quinn press release…

House Bill 5025, sponsored by Rep. Joe Lyons (D-Chicago) and Sen. John Mulroe (D-Chicago) will help consumers resolve negative action on their credit scores by requiring public utilities to notify credit reporting agencies when a customer has paid off their outstanding balances in full. This measure will allow utility customers to be more quickly relieved of pressure from collection agencies and help them improve their credit scores. The law goes into effect Jan. 1.

Senate Bill 3170 sponsored by Rep. JoAnn Osmond (R-Antioch) and Sen. Suzi Schmidt (R-Lake Villa), allows townships to participate in electrical aggregation the same way counties and municipalities can under current law. Aggregation allows for greater group energy purchasing, which increases competition and lowers costs for consumers. According to the Illinois Commerce Commission, more than 90 municipalities have become power aggregators since 2010, which has allowed for greater consumer savings. The law goes into effect immediately.

Senate Bill 3811, sponsored by Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) and Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) protects the ability of certain groups to continue to benefit from “net metering,” which allows customers who generate their own renewable energy to sell excess power back to an electricity provider. The new law takes into account the increased aggregation and alternative energy sources more Illinois communities are now using. The measure provides that net metering customers will be treated equally regardless of the competitiveness of their local energy market. The law goes into effect immediately.

* Interesesingly enough though, CUB hotly opposes another bill that’s sitting on Quinn’s desk right now. Editorial boards throughout the state have been bashing the legislation for weeks. Here’s a representative sample from the Northwest Herald…

Gov. Pat Quinn should veto legislation passed by both the Illinois Senate and House that essentially will drive up costs for natural gas customers in McHenry County and across the state.

Senate Bill 3766 was approved in the waning moments of the legislative session that ended in May after significant lobbying by the Leucadia National Corp., which wants to build a $3 billion synthetic gas plant on Chicago’s southeast side.

Although the measure would create about 1,000 jobs in the short term, it forces Nicor Gas, which serves the suburbs, and Ameren Illinois, which serves downstate, to pay much of the costs to build and operate the plant. Nicor and Ameren also would be required to buy the much more expensive natural gas that this new plant produces.

This, in turn, would significantly drive up rates for all Nicor and Ameren residential and commercial customers.

A diverse coalition of Illinois businesses and environmental, consumer and agricultural groups oppose the legislation, including the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Sierra Club, the Citizens Utility Board, and the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois.

“No matter how you look at it, a bad deal is a bad deal. Leucadia would result in one of the largest rate hikes for consumers and businesses in Illinois history,” said Mark Denzler, vice president/COO, Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.

* From CUB…

This is the second time Gov. Quinn could veto a pro-Leucadia bill. Last year, the governor got out his veto pen and forced the company to make concessions, applying a cap on rate increases and creating a $150 million fund to help soften the blow to consumers. But then Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, two Chicago-area utilities, dropped out of the proposal, saying the gas increases would be too punishing for customers. The exit of those two utilities led Nicor and Ameren to complain that its customers would now be forced to shoulder too much of the costs. State regulators agreed with Nicor and Ameren, but legislators responded with the current bill, which would force Ameren and Nicor to cover more of the construction costs.

* And considering all this public heat, it’s even more interesting that the Leucadia bill wasn’t mentioned by reporters during yesterday’s press conference. Raw audio…

Click to download

The questions were almost all about pensions.

* The other side…

But is has its advantages beyond jobs and $3 billion in industrial development in Chicago, says State Senator Donne Trotter.

“This project not only benefits the city of Chicago, it benefits downstate,” says Trotter. “It creates jobs downstate, utilizing one of our natural resources- coal.”

State Senator Marcus Evans adds it’s technology on which Illinois should get in on the ground floor.

“Currently, almost 100 percent of the gas for Illinois homes and business is produced outside of the state of Illinois; in some instances, outside of the country,” Evans says. “That’s billions of dollars each year that leaves our economy. Let’s build a clean energy project that keeps money in Illinois, where it belongs.”

The legislation commits the plant to using at least 35 percent Illinois coal. Labor groups and sponsoring lawmakers want Quinn to sign the bill before all plants like the Leucadia one are built in other states.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 9:59 am

Comments

The General Assembly seems more than happy to pass special legislation to help out companies like ComEd and Leucadia by claiming it will create “jobs”.

Its really easy for these companies to create jobs that are paid for through higher utility rates for Illinois consumers and businesses.

Comment by SportShoz Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 10:53 am
I thought gubbermints weren’t supposed to interfere in the “free market” economy with deals like this. Ask Mitt and those Republican Senators from Wisconsin.

Farmers hit the hardest by drought may want to consider researching the possibility of solar power generation in some portion of their fields. It works in Germany.

Comment by Kasich Walker, Jr. Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 11:07 am
If the product is too expensive for Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, why isn’t it too expensive for Nicor and Ameren–maybe Trotter and Evans would like to comment on that part of the proposal.

Comment by champaigndweller Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 11:20 am
–A diverse coalition of Illinois businesses and environmental, consumer and agricultural groups oppose the legislation, including the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, the Sierra Club, the Citizens Utility Board, and the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois.–

Given the opposition, there were some interesting roll calls on the Leucadia bill.

It sailed trough the Senate 40-10 on a bipartisan vote, but with some interesting Not Voting, including Brady, Radogno, Meeks and Garrett.

The 60-50 vote in the House has all the markings of a bipartisan structured roll call.

With all the controversy, it’s kind of funny that it flies in one chamber and squeaks through in the other.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 11:26 am
Worslinger, wrong senate roll call. Senate vote on concurrence was 35-16. Barely under veto proof.

In any event, this project is a 30 year 3 billion dollar bet on the price of natural gas, one of the most volatile commodities ever. And all the risk is on the ratepayers (thank you general assembly). And if the deal is so good why isn’t leucadia putting up more of their money to finance it?

Any project that takes six bills to pass needs to be re-thought out. Jus sayin

Comment by Lincoln's Penny Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 12:14 pm
Gov. Quinn may want to google Luecadia and Indiana. He’ll see that Gov. Daniels and state lawmakers approved a similar agreement for a Luecadia coal-to-to gas plant near Rockport, IN. That project is also looking like a bad deal for utility ratepayers.

Comment by Going nuclear Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 12:39 pm
This is a BAD deal. The US Department of Energy predicts the price of natural gas will be below $6 until 2035 (the furthest out that they predict). Leucadia’s gas will cost around $9.60 according to their own filing.

The roll call was jumbled because they unveiled it in the final 2-3 days of session. Didn’t give the opponents much time. Several lawmakers who voted for it are now telling folks they will oppose.

Comment by 1776 Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 12:57 pm
LP, mea culpa, thanks.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 12:58 pm
Just four years ago, Illinois consumers were paying three times the current cost of natural gas. As of July 17, natural gas prices have risen 60 percent in the last 60 trade days.

the Chicago Clean Energy project is offering a predictable price in an unpredictable market — setting gas prices over the life of the project. The project’s pricing structure will save consumers money during periods of higher market prices when they need it the most and includes required consumer protections to keep ratepayers near the market when prices are low. In the end, this structure is projected to save consumers over $1.2 billion, and is required by the legislation to save consumers at least $100 million. These are guarantees that no gas utility has ever offered.

Additionally, while Chicago Clean Energy has committed to using Illinois coal, it is not burning it. The plant is a modern gasification facility that will chemically convert coal. There are no smokestacks. The project will meet all newly authored EPA greenhouse gas emissions standards. The plant will produce 99 percent fewer emissions than a conventional coal plant, and will have lower allowed emissions than the Art Institute of Chicago.

Gov. Pat Quinn has built his career on protecting consumers. He, along with the Illinois General Assembly, multiple state agencies and outside experts hired by the state have fully vetted and supported the project for years. They are confident consumers’ interests are protected and are encouraged by the innovation and energy security the project can bring to Illinois. They also know we need to diversify our energy sources to support a broader “all-of-the-above” energy policy.

The legislation will enable the Chicago Clean Energy project to move forward — ushering in $3 billion of private investment in our clean energy future.

Comment by Mercury1 Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 3:00 pm
What’s the Attorney General’s position? That’s where I tend to find myself on consumer issues.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Jul 19, 12 @ 3:47 pm