Glen Ellyn and Lombard residents will pay about $2 more per month on their Nicor Gas bills. State regulators approved an $82 million rate increase on Thursday, Oct. 15.
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved a settlement between Nicor and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office that cut the utility's original $221 million request by roughly 63%, according to the Daily Herald. The original proposal would have added about $6 per month to residential bills beginning in 2027, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Nicor, owned by Atlanta-based Southern Co., is the largest gas utility in Illinois. It serves 2.3 million customers across northern Illinois, including both Glen Ellyn and Lombard.
The sources differ on when the new rates take effect. The Daily Herald reported the increase begins in November. The Tribune reported an average residential increase of $2.21 per month beginning in January.
Illinois PIRG Director Abe Scarr described the outcome as a "partial win for customers" in a statement reported by the Daily Herald. The settlement also lowers the fixed monthly gas delivery charge from $21.30 to $15, according to Capitol News Illinois. That charge applies to every Nicor customer regardless of how much gas they use. Capitol News Illinois reported the new fixed charge takes effect Nov. 16.
The lower fixed charge matters. It gives customers more control over their bills because a larger share is now tied to actual gas usage, according to Rob Kelter, senior attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC). Kelter said the change protects low-income customers who tend to use less gas and said he would like to see the charge eventually drop to $12 or lower.
"A settlement is a compromise, so we're not thrilled about every element, but we are pleased the Commission approved it," Scarr said in his statement.
Under the settlement, Nicor agreed to reduce its shareholder profit rate to 9.48%, down from the 10.35% it originally sought. Illinois PIRG and Legal Action Chicago had pushed for 8.95%.
Raoul's office also negotiated a separate side deal committing Nicor to maintain 2026 union staffing levels through the end of 2027. Consumer and environmental advocates who were party to the main rate agreement were not part of the labor deal. Scarr called it "bad policy and a misstep" by the attorney general's office, according to Capitol News Illinois.
The ICC said in its Oct. 15 ruling that similar employment agreements "should not come before the commission" in the future, the Tribune reported. ICC Chairman Doug Scott said the commission is not bound by the settlement's terms in any future rate case.
Consumer advocates said they expect Nicor to file another rate case in January. The Daily Herald reported that Nicor did not respond to questions about future rate plans. This is Nicor's sixth rate hike in a decade, according to Scarr.
