'Unjust and unreasonable': Citizens Utility Board recommends water company's proposed rate hike be further reduced

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Customers of Aqua Illinois could be in for much bigger water bills if state regulators approve a rate increase next month.

Hearing officers have recommended a much smaller hike.

“They are gunning for an excessive profit rate for their shareholders,” says Citizens Utility Board (CUB) spokesperson Jim Chilsen.

CUB wants the Illinois Commerce Commission to go even lower than the $10.9 million dollar rate hike proposed by administrative law judges. Aqua Illinois asked for $19 million.

Chilsen calls that excessive.

“Aqua’s parent company has made about $1 billion in profits over the last two years,” Chilsen says. “We think the rate hike is unjust and unreasonable, and we hope regulators go even further in slashing that increase.”

CUB points to complaints of a water outage in Lake County last year and unacceptable lead levels in drinking water in University Park in 2019 as reasons not to grant the increase.

Aqua Illinois’ president says they make every effort to minimize the financial impact of essential infrastructure improvements and has invested $280 million over the last six and a half years.

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