Southwest suburban officials are urging the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject Illinois American Water’s proposed water and sewer rate hike, saying residents cannot afford increasing water bills.
“Water is not a luxury,” Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta said Wednesday. “It is not a vacation. It is not a new television or a shopping trip that can be postponed. Water, electricity and natural gas are essential services that every family needs to live with dignity, safety and health.”
Alexander-Basta, along with state legislators, said Bolingbrook residents pay an average of $220 a month for their water bills. Senior citizens on fixed incomes and households already cash-strapped by rising costs in food, insurance and housing, cannot afford more rate hikes, she said.
“People should not be choosing if they should flush their toilet or take a shower,” said state Rep. Dagmara Avelar, D-Bolingbrook.
Illinois American Water filed for a $136.3 million rate increase, according to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
The Citizens Utility Board, a state watchdog, is asking the ICC to reject rate hikes proposed by Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, the state’s two biggest private water companies, which serve several towns in the Chicago region. American Water, the parent company of Illinois American, wants to buy Aqua’s parent Essential Utilities, which the Citizens Utility Board also opposes.
Alexander-Basta said the latest request by Illinois American Water comes after four rate increases over the past decade totaling about $319 million.
She urged residents to attend a public forum before the ICC at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 14, at the Bolingbrook Community Center, 201 Canterbury Lane.
“We are in a time right now where every penny counts, every dollar matters,” Alexander-Basta said. “When the cost of an essential service becomes increasingly difficult for families to afford, silence is no longer an option.”
Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said village officials there also plan to protest the rate hike at Tuesday’s public forum and urged residents to attend. About 6,000 Homer Glen households are served by Illinois American Water and are burdened with high water bills.
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Neitzke-Troike said about 100 Homer Glen residents attended a previous ICC forum and hopes their personal stories make a difference.
She said residents should spread the word among their neighbors to submit an official comment to the ICC on the rate increase or the proposed merger with Aqua Illinois. The village has listed ways residents can be heard on its website, www.homerglenil.org.
Residents can also bring their water bills to the village to look for anomalies.
The village is opposed to both the rate increase and the merger, Neitzke-Troike said, and is working with the Illinois attorney general’s office, lobbyists and state legislators to let their concerns be known.
“I don’t want to give up,” Neitzke-Troike said.
Illinois American Water filed its general rate increase petition with the ICC in January.
The rates will support about $577 million in water and wastewater investments through December 2027, according to the company.
Under its proposal, if approved, the typical residential water customer using 3,500 gallons of water would see an increase of approximately $14 per month, depending on the service area. Typical customers served by sanitary wastewater systems using 3,500 gallons of water would see an increase of about $28 per month.
The proposed rate adjustment supports the company’s plans to modernize and strengthen its water and wastewater systems in communities across Illinois, Anna Kubas, Illinois American Water’s senior manager for external affairs and communications, said in an email.
Investments include replacing aging pipes, upgrading treatment facilities, improving storage and pumping systems, and meeting evolving regulatory requirements. Examples of investments in the Chicago area include $3.5 million in a booster tank installation in Woodridge, $2.5 million in lift station improvements in Homer Glen, and $1 million in water storage tank renovations in Bolingbrook this year, Kubas said.
The company’s new rates would take effect in January 2027. The ICC is expected to make a decision by December.
Alexander-Basta said any improvements that Illinois American Water wants to make should be made within its existing revenue stream and not on the backs of consumers who have no choice but to use their service.
“It is not the time right now to give a for-profit, publicly traded company more money to pad their pockets,” she said.
Burton Odelson, Bolingbrook’s attorney, said the village has fought rate increases for years.
“The public utility laws of our state require utility rates to be just and reasonable,” Odelson said. “The village will continue to exhaust all legal remedies on behalf of our residents.”
Verbal and written comments from consumers will be accepted by the ICC administrative law judge.
Customers are not required to attend the in-person forum to submit a comment, according to the ICC. Those unable to attend may submit comments via the ICC website, www.icc.illinois.gov, or by calling its consumer services division at 800-524-0795.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.