Residents of Illinois should soon start paying less for their electricity and natural gas. The Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates public utilities, has ordered 22 companies to reduce their rates or show why they shouldn't have to.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says the reason is simple - the amount they charge customers includes federal taxes, and the new tax bill dropped corporate rates from 35 to 21 per cent.
"In two currently open cases where there are public utilities requesting increases, we have filed motions saying that those increases should be reduced by the amount of savings that the company is scheduled to see because of the reduction in the corporate tax rate."
In one of the two cases, Nicor Gas wants to raise rates by 130 million dollars. But Madigan says the request should be reduced by 37 million, or about 28 per cent.
She wants to make sure utilities serving Illinois drop their rates, and pass the savings on to customers, as soon as possible.
