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Local Power Company Lowers Rates

By Ryan Kruger

CAIRO -- Attorney General Lisa Madigan says a local power company has been over-charging its customers for years. Cairo Public Utility has agreed to lower its natural gas rates. But residents in Cairo are divided on the decision.

Shirley Bryant feels she has been ripped off. Her average bill is around $700 a month.

She's pleased that CPU has agreed to drop its rates from $1.39, sometimes as high as $1.79, down to $1.19. But that's still nearly 50 cents more than what Ameren customers pay.

"We're paying $1.19, it was $1.79, that is not fair so we're continuing to fight for fair rates," said Bryant.

Across town at the Jesus is Lord Free Will Baptist Church, Bishop Derek Eurales is paying $500 a month to heat his home. He sees the agreement between CPU and Madigan as a blessing.

"I don't hold any grudges or hard feelings or what have you because the past is the past so now we wanna deal with the present and wanna make things better for the future," said Eurales.

CPU officials aren't commenting, except to say that they will lower their rates.

While Bryant feels more work needs to be done, Eurales is happy people in this economically depressed town will be able to save some money this winter.

"Hopefully Cairo will move positively in the right direction to help our community to do better things," said Eurales.

Madigan's office also found large industrial customers in Cairo weren't paying their fair share even though they use most of the natural gas.

From the Southern Illinoisan...

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Cairo Public Utilities will lower charges

The Southern

CAIRO - Cairo Public Utilities will have to lower its natural gas rates as a result of an investigation into customers' unusually high bills by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Madigan announced the change Thursday, saying the lower rates will bring significant savings to consumers as the winter heating season begins.

Madigan launched an investigation last year into Cairo Public Utilities in response to requests from residents and the Concerned Citizens for the Recovery of Cairo.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Satter and Assistant Attorney General Michael Borovik handled the investigation for the attorney general's Public Utilities Bureau.

The investigation found gas bills were unusually high, in part because customers were paying more for the utilities overhead costs than those of companies. The investigation also found that the utility unnecessarily applied a surcharge of 5 percent to 8 percent in years when Cairo Public Utilities' income exceeded its costs.

Because Cairo Public Utilities is a not-for-profit, its revenues should not exceed its costs on a regular basis, Madigan said.

Cairo Public Utilities officials agreed to lower rates beginning with November bills for residents and small businesses to $1.19 per gas unit down from the price of $1.39 and a recent high of $1.79. The attorney general's office found that the new, lower price would still adequately cover the utility's natural gas and operational costs.

"Our focus was to determine whether Cairo Public Utility was charging fair prices to consumers and efficiently running its business in a way that protects consumers from unnecessarily high prices," Madigan said. "Based on the results of our investigation, Cairo Public Utility has made the right decision to lower prices just in time for the cold winter months when consumers see their highest gas bills."

Based on the investigation, Madigan has also recommended that CPU:

• Retain a qualified, independent expert to determine the costs that industrial users impose on its system to ensure those users pay a fair share of the utility's costs of operation.

• Reduce its overhead costs.

• Eliminate the surplus and adjustment surcharge in any year when CPU's revenues exceed its costs.

The attorney general also questioned why the surcharge for residential and small commercial customers was based on an amount of natural gas that included large amounts used by large industrial users that do not pay the surcharge.