Dive Summary:
- On Thursday, a lawsuit seeking class action status was filed against Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) in Cook County Circuit Court
- The lawsuit accuses ComEd of violating the Illinois Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) order to begin smart meter rollouts and demands the utility pay customers $182 million; ComEd was granted a $2.6 billion rate increase but has not fulfilled the terms of its request, according to lawsuit.
- After the ICC cut some of the funding for its grid modernization project, ComEd postponed smart meter rollouts until 2015 and claimed the delay would cost customers an extra $209 million.
From the article:
"... 'ComEd has pulled off the biggest bait-and-switch in Illinois history,' said Chicago lawyer Paul G. Neilan who brought the suit. He said ComEd sold the legislation on the benefits of smart meters, and customers have already started paying for them. 'No one will so much as see a smart meter until 2015.'
The lawsuit alleges that a provision in the legislation on the governor's desk would absolve ComEd of potential violations in delaying the smart meter rollout. Neilan said the utility and its parent company, Chicago-based Exelon Corp. contributed more than $192,000 in campaign contributions since 2010 to legislative sponsors of the bill. ..."
