Law Suit filed to block Illinois power auction
Published September 3rd, 2005
State and local officials filed suit against the Illinois Commerce Commission Thursday, trying to stop a controversial auction that would supply the state’s utilities with electricity. Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan and Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine sued in Cook County Circuit Court to prohibit the ICC from allowing Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Corp., which serves southern Illinois, to charge customers “so-called market prices.” The Citizens Utility Board and the Environmental Law & Policy Center joined the suit. As part of deregulation, ComEd wants to buy electricity through an auction in which generators would offer progressively smaller amounts of power at decreasing prices until the supply offered meets the public’s demand. The auction would set the market price of electricity beginning in 2007. Residential electrical rates are expected to rise significantly after next year, by 20 percent or more by some estimates.
