Bolingbrook residents and advocates urge Illinois Commerce Commission to reject Illinois American Water rate request

An Illinois Commerce Commission public hearing in Bolingbrook opened with Administrative Law Judge Leonard Dolan calling docket number 24‑0097 and explaining that Illinois American Water would present its January 25, 2024 rate filing and then remain for questions after public comments. The company’s president said the filing responds to infrastructure needs; residents and advocates called the request excessive and urged regulators to protect low‑income and fixed‑income households.

Rebecca Willsley, president of Illinois American Water, described the filing as the first step in an approximately 11‑month review and said the company seeks capital investment authority totaling $557,000,000 to be spent through 2025, split into about $421,000,000 for water system projects and $136,000,000 for wastewater work. She said $72,000,000 of that total is for Chicago‑area projects, and listed lead service‑line replacements, booster station upgrades and major wastewater plant rehabilitation among locally relevant projects. Willsley framed the investments as necessary to improve reliability, comply with environmental rules and avoid service failures.

Opposition at the hearing centered on affordability and corporate profits. State Senator Ray Ventura (43rd District) told the panel that the parent company’s recent earnings and past rate awards show customers have borne rising costs; he urged the ICC to cap the company’s shareholder return, constrain the equity ratio and exclude executive bonuses from cost recovery. Sarah Moskowitz, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, described the request as “excessive, unjust and unreasonable,” cited parent‑company profit figures presented to the audience, and urged regulators to reject the filing while inviting residents to file public comments with the ICC. An AARP Illinois associate director noted that roughly 35% of Illinois American customers are age 50 or older and warned that proposed increases would hit seniors and people on fixed incomes particularly hard.

Individual residents described personal hardship and service‑quality concerns. Longtime Bolingbrook resident Dwayne Nelson said he could not afford the increase and asked regulators to consider retirees and low‑income households. Other commenters described monthly bills they said exceeded what they can pay and linked high bills to the system’s private ownership, arguing that public control or other policy remedies should be considered.

Company representatives said customer assistance programs exist — including an H2O‑help program in partnership with the Salvation Army and an income‑based discount administered through a third party — and invited residents to request enrollment information. Willsley emphasized that the requested investments are intended to reduce main breaks, basement flooding and environmental discharges by rehabilitating and replacing aging infrastructure.

The hearing record includes competing numeric claims: company testimony presented a $557 million capital plan and projected timing through December 2025, while speakers from elected offices and advocacy groups cited various profit and prior‑rate figures. Those profit figures were advanced by commenters in oral remarks and have not been adjudicated in the ICC record at this public meeting.

Judge Dolan closed the public‑comment portion and said the company would remain to answer questions but that formal evidence and testimony would follow through the ICC’s case process. The commission will issue a final decision later in its review timeline.