ComEd Owes Us Money

By PETER HANCOCK

Capitol News Illinois

Two of the state’s largest electric utilities owe their customers a combined $543 million in refunds, according to state regulators, but there is sharp disagreement over how much time the companies should have to pay it back.

At issue for Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison, also known as ComEd, is money they collected to pay future tax bills before federal tax cuts which took effect in 2018 lowered those anticipated rates.

When the corporate tax rate was slashed from 35 percent to 21 percent, both companies found themselves holding onto large surplus...