Com Ed

[NorthSideSox72]

BTW, I do want to point out one thing that the writer of this article completely neglects is that dispite being government regulated Com-Ed is still a business, and as such they do pay taxes. All these chartiable contributions are is tax write-offs, and as such have exactly zero effect on their bottomline, and exactly zero effect on what your electricity costs in the end.

This is not the case. Just because they get a tax write-off, that doesn't mean it doesn't effect the cost of electricity. The money is still coming out of consumers' pockets - its just not going in to ComEd's profits. It does in fact causes a direct cost to the consumer.

[Queen Prawn]

I understand wanting a raise in rates since they haven't had one in 10 years, but must they be so f***ing greedy?! Why not phase in the raise in rates over time so we aren't slammed with a 26% raise all at once?

[Texsox]

I understand wanting a raise in rates since they haven't had one in 10 years, but must they be so f***ing greedy?! Why not phase in the raise in rates over time so we aren't slammed with a 26% raise all at once?

 

Because then it is damn, they have had three rate hikes in five years, what the hell do they want?

 

I noticed that no one there knows what they are paying per kilowatt of electricity. You will learn that when deregulation comes your way. Then you will be sweating over which company to go with, how long to lock in your rates, etc. Checking the ComEd web site, y'all can kiss my ass complaining about your pricing. Y'all are at about .08 to .09. In Texas, with choice, and without a regulated rate, the standard is about .15 with discounts from there to about .12. So even with the rate hike, y'all are still getting a bargain. And, it's all electric here. No natural gas. Heaters, clothes dryers, all run on electric.

[EvilMonkey]

Because then it is damn, they have had three rate hikes in five years, what the hell do they want?

 

I noticed that no one there knows what they are paying per kilowatt of electricity. You will learn that when deregulation comes your way. Then you will be sweating over which company to go with, how long to lock in your rates, etc. Checking the ComEd web site, y'all can kiss my ass complaining about your pricing. Y'all are at about .08 to .09. In Texas, with choice, and without a regulated rate, the standard is about .15 with discounts from there to about .12. So even with the rate hike, y'all are still getting a bargain. And, it's all electric here. No natural gas. Heaters, clothes dryers, all run on electric.

It would be great if they could help you out by dropping that rate a few cents, but I guess it is pretty important to fund that Mummy exhibition or the symphony. Hope you like ancient history and Bach!

[Texsox]

It would be great if they could help you out by dropping that rate a few cents, but I guess it is pretty important to fund that Mummy exhibition or the symphony. Hope you like ancient history and Bach!

 

No, I have electric choice in Texas, ComEd is charging less *and* funding community projects.

[southsider2k5]

No, I have electric choice in Texas, ComEd is charging less *and* funding community projects.

 

And because they haven't been able to get a rate increase in something like 10 years, they are on the verge of bankruptcy from it.

[Queen Prawn]

It was on the news a couple weeks ago that someone involved in auditing their books said they were not even close to bankruptcy. Maybe their guy getting 27M a year can hack a few Ms off his salary to help out.

[NorthSideSox72]

It was on the news a couple weeks ago that someone involved in auditing their books said they were not even close to bankruptcy. Maybe their guy getting 27M a year can hack a few Ms off his salary to help out.

Seriously. If you are on the verge of bankrupty, which I have read they are not, you start cutting extra spending like the very stuff we are arguing about. ComEd is nowhere in the vicinity of bankruptcy.

[southsider2k5]

You'll have to argue with Comed then...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...1&cset=true

 

 

ComEd warns of fight in rate freeze

 

By Robert Manor

Tribune staff reporter

Published January 9, 2007

 

 

Commonwealth Edison executives said Monday that they would challenge Illinois' proposed electricity rate freeze in court, and, if necessary, would file for bankruptcy to protect it from financial ruin.

 

No one is predicting the lights will go out, but ComEd said that if rates are frozen, the utility would lose $4 million a day, and its corporate parent, Exelon Corp., would not bail it out.

 

"We certainly can't survive very long" losing $1.4 billion a year, said Bob McDonald, ComEd's chief financial officer. "We would be in bankruptcy court very quickly."

 

A measure to freeze electric rates for three years passed the Illinois House on Sunday, but it faces an uncertain future in the state Senate, which favors phasing in the hike over three years.

 

Backers of the freeze, including Speaker Michael Madigan, want to shield ComEd customers from a 22 percent increase in electric charges, and as much as a 55 percent increase for consumers in other parts of the state served by Ameren Corp.

 

ComEd and Illinois political leaders are locked in a battle resulting from the surprise end to a decade-long march toward utility deregulation, in which new competition from power generators failed to materialize. As a result, when Illinois held its first auction to obtain electricity, the price for ComEd came in 22 percent higher than current rates.

 

Consumers will start to see that increase this month unless Illinois legislators pass the rate freeze or agree to a compromise, which some analysts believe is possible.

 

ComEd has warned for months that bankruptcy is an option. It does not mean Illinois suddenly would fall dark and silent. By law, ComEd must supply reliable power to anyone in its service territory who is willing to buy it, state officials said.

 

The goal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing would be work to keep the company viable by allowing it to reorganize under court protection. ComEd might be able to avoid paying creditors and alter union contracts. For example, the company probably could stop paying interest on its $4 billion in long-term debt.

 

But there would be complications, including the risk that power providers would be wary of doing business with ComEd.

 

Potential for compromise

 

That leads some observers to speculate that the debate might lead to a compromise between ComEd and freeze proponents.

 

"This could all be hardball negotiations by both sides," said Paul Justice, equity analyst with Morningstar.

 

While the state House passed the rate freeze, the Senate has approved a bill that would phase in the rate increases in stages. And Senate President Emil Jones has shown no enthusiasm for freezing rates.

 

Should the Senate approve the freeze, and it is signed into law by the governor, ComEd said it has several options. First, it could challenge the action in court.

 

"They would have a strong case," said A.J. Sabatelle, vice president and senior credit officer with Moody's Investors Service. "It is pretty clear under law that prudently incurred wholesale power costs are collected in retail rates."

 

Phil Adams, senior bond analyst for the independent credit research firm Gimme Credit, also said ComEd likely could win in the courts what it lost in the legislature.

 

"But there is no doubt in my mind that if they pass the law, and ComEd loses the legal challenge, they will enter bankruptcy," Adams said.

 

Susan Hedman, senior assistant Illinois attorney general, said bankruptcy would not relieve ComEd of either its rights or responsibilities to deliver electricity and be paid for it.

 

"There would still be electricity, and it still would be delivered, and there would still be a Commonwealth Edison," said Hedman, who studies electric utility issues.

 

"We don't think that would be the end of the world," said Rob Kelter, general counsel for the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer watchdog group. "The utility still has an obligation to serve its customers whether it files for bankruptcy or not."

 

Kelter noted that it is rare for a business doing well to reorganize in bankruptcy.

 

According to ComEd, the company's operating earnings for 2005 and 2006 totaled over $1 billion. The company is predicting far lower profits this year as it no longer makes money on the generation of electricity.

 

Instead, ComEd's power price, set by last year's auction, is passed through directly to consumers without markup. Beginning this year, ComEd makes money from a delivery charge that is added to residential bills.

 

Utility executives said they plan in coming years to ask for increases in the delivery charge consumers pay, in part to fund maintenance of utility facilities.

 

Beware the deadbeat

 

Douglas Baird, a University of Chicago Law School professor and expert on bankruptcy, said a Chapter 11 filing by ComEd probably would have little immediate effect on consumers. Marquee-name bankruptcies have become so common that the public is no longer alarmed.

 

"I still flew United Airlines when it was in bankruptcy," Baird said. "The mere fact that you go into bankruptcy doesn't spell the end of the universe."

 

That said, consumers cannot expect that bankruptcy will somehow save them money.

 

"One way or another, if I want electricity, I am going to have to pay for it," Baird said. "Electricity costs what it costs."

 

Barry Mitchell, president of ComEd, said he dreads the idea of Chapter 11.

 

"It's a horrible process to have to go through," he said.

 

Mitchell said when Pacific Gas & Electricity, a large California utility, declared bankruptcy during that state's bungled deregulation, its legal fees reached $450 million.

 

"The consumers ended up paying for that," Mitchell said.

 

Bankruptcy might allow ComEd to get out of the contracts for power it signed. But becoming a deadbeat creates its own problems.

 

Power generators might fear ComEd was an unreliable customer and charge extra for the risk of dealing with the utility.

 

"What potential supplier would enter into a contract with us?" Mitchell asked.

 

[email protected]

[NorthSideSox72]

You'll have to argue with Comed then...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...1&cset=true

They're full of crap. The cleared 1B in profits in 2005 and 2006, they pay their CEO 27M despite being heavily regulated, and spend millions on these ridiculous programs. Plus, if they file for bankrputcy, they will have their internal operations heavily scrutinized, and I don't think they want that to happen.

 

This is all a game of chicken with the Illinois legislatute, that's all this is. Its posturing, in order to prevent the legislature from freezing rates and to stave off open competition for as long as possible.

 

I don't agree with the rate cuts, mind you - but this argument about going bankrupt is a steaming pile of doo-doo.

[Texsox]

They're full of crap. The cleared 1B in profits in 2005 and 2006, they pay their CEO 27M despite being heavily regulated, and spend millions on these ridiculous programs. Plus, if they file for bankrputcy, they will have their internal operations heavily scrutinized, and I don't think they want that to happen.

 

This is all a game of chicken with the Illinois legislatute, that's all this is. Its posturing, in order to prevent the legislature from freezing rates and to stave off open competition for as long as possible.

 

I don't agree with the rate cuts, mind you - but this argument about going bankrupt is a steaming pile of doo-doo.

According to ComEd, the company's operating earnings for 2005 and 2006 totaled over $1 billion. The company is predicting far lower profits this year as it no longer makes money on the generation of electricity.

 

The business model has changed for 2007. Y'all are enjoying electrical rates much lower than here in Texas, so if y'all want electric choice and what would be a 40% increase in your bills, I'll swap with you.

 

CEO wages? Are you suggesting that since it is a monopoly that anyone could run it? Just hire a couple of college grads and say here's the keys? You have infrastructure to maintain and a myriad of other issues.

[Balta1701]

CEO wages? Are you suggesting that since it is a monopoly that anyone could run it? Just hire a couple of college grads and say here's the keys? You have infrastructure to maintain and a myriad of other issues.

Honestly, with a lot of these companies paying out tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, there are probably a lot of college kids who could do almost as good of a job, to the point where the money they would cost the company would be significantly less than the difference in salaries between some random student and the $500 million CEO.

[Texsox]

Honestly, with a lot of these companies paying out tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, there are probably a lot of college kids who could do almost as good of a job, to the point where the money they would cost the company would be significantly less than the difference in salaries between some random student and the $500 million CEO.

 

I am thinking specifically to this situation. Their rates are lower than what free choice is producing in Texas.