Dive Summary:
- In an ongoing dispute between the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and ComEd, the ICC has approved a request from ComEd to delay smart meter installations until 2015 after funding for the program was cut.
- ComEd was expected to begin installing smart meters this year but funding for the project was cut by the ICC; the ICC said it would reconsider the matter when the utility must submit a progress report in April.
- Despite the objections of an administrative law judge and a number of consumer advocacy groups, the ICC chose to approve the delay, which will cost consumers $187 million in savings over the next 20 years, according to a ComEd analysis report.
From the article:
"... Without the smart meters, customers must alert ComEd to an outage. Other parts of smart grid allow ComEd to see where the power is out in general.
The smart meters were a major component in ComEd's pitch to the state legislature for massive regulatory overhaul legislation that streamlines the rate-making process to give ComEd faster and more frequent rate hikes as it undertakes the multibillion-dollar grid modernization."