Rates will still rise next year for four major natural gas utilities, but not nearly as much as they would have if the commission had approved the utilities’ initial requests. The commissioners instead sided with consumer advocates – rejecting several recommendations from the ICC’s own staff – in several key areas, including profit rates, low-income discounts and spending oversight.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.