It’s Time to Fix a Rigged Utility Rate System
Across Illinois and across the nation, families are asking the same question: why do our power bills keep rising even as utilities report record earnings? The answer is simple. The system is rigged. Monopoly utilities are allowed to tack on charges, lock in guaranteed profits, and push through rate hikes with little pushback from regulators.
Emmanuel Thomas, in a column in the Daily Herald, puts it bluntly:
“Illinois lawmakers need to act now to reform a system that allows utilities to raise rates year after year while their profits climb and consumers are left footing the bill.”
This isn’t an isolated Illinois problem. In Pennsylvania, rate increases have far outpaced inflation. In Maryland, the cost of simply delivering electricity has almost doubled since 2010.
Everywhere you look, the pattern is the same: power companies win, consumers lose.
The common-sense solution is clear: Lawmakers and regulators must overhaul a broken system that rewards monopoly profits at the expense of working families. Reforms should put transparency and accountability first and make sure every dollar charged is tied to real benefits for customers, not Wall Street share-holders.
Read the full *Daily Herald* piece here: Lawmakers Should Act to Reform Utility Rate System
