Illinois AG Urged Illinois Commerce Commission to Establish Reasonable Timeframe for Utilities to Return Federal Tax Cut Savings to Ratepayers

JANUARY 6, 2020

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed requests with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to rehear and reconsider its decisions to allow two utility companies, ComEd and Ameren Illinois, to return federal tax savings that resulted from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to ratepayers over 38 and 35 years, respectively. The TCJA reduced the federal tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, yielding $385 million in excess tax dollars for ComEd and $158 million in excess tax dollars for Ameren. AG Raoul recommended that the ICC require the companies to return the excess tax dollars to ratepayers over a five-year period through rate reductions.