WEC is one of the worst scams around. They own Peoples Gas, the oldest company in Chicago. Peoples Gas and the Illinois Commerce Commission have colluded to land Peoples Gas a super sweet deal disproportionately funded by the people in Chicago who use the least gas.
Even if you turn off all your gas appliances and use ZERO therms, you will still have to pay a minimum of $65 per month for NOTHING. Your bill will be summed up as a "customer charge" of over $35 and a qualified infrastructure plant charge of over $15. Then you have various other little charges and taxes...all before you've used a single therm. Then start actually using gas and watch your bill jump to $200 per month for running a single furnace and water heater. Even in July, with 100 degree days, it costs customers $75 per month to take cooler than room temperature showers just because you have an active account.
Peoples Gas and the ICC have struck this deal in an obvious effort to rob citizens for the benefit of a for-profit publicly traded company that could simply issue shares or find more investors if they needed to raise cash. Maybe they could even take out a loan from a bank(rolls eyes). They say they need funding for future construction, and they need the citizens of Chicago to provide that money in advance without getting paid back. "We're all in this together." They say.
Anyone with even the slightest arithmetic ability and integrity would have made any "fund raising charges" for "future projects" into a percentage based on gas usage, not a flat fee that disproportionately robs those who use the least gas. This deal will not last forever, as the pitch forks and torches are starting to come out. I personally know many people who are very very sick of being overcharged. WEC needs to give up the scam or they will lose much more than they've gained.
