Consumer advocates take Nicor Gas to task for rate hike

Consumer and environmental advocates said Monday that they found overcharges buried in the most recent rate-hike request by Nicor.

The Citizens Utility Board, Illinois PIRG, and the Environmental Defense Fund said Nicor is making customers pay for an inflated profit rate, millions of dollars in executive bonuses, and wasteful spending.

The consumer advocates said noted that in January of this year, Nicor filed for a $221 million rate hike — the sixth since 2017. Between 2017 and 2024, the utility hiked delivery rates five times, the consumer advocates said.

The advocates said in that time, Nicor parent company Southern Company has raked in more than $29 billion in profits.

"We're all in agreement that Nicor's rate hike was appallingly inflated, and the profit rate is just wildly excessive," Citizens Utility Board communications director Jim Chilsen said at a virtual news conference Monday.

Nicor said it needs to update pipelines and other aging equipment, and to relocate some facilities, and thus, it needs more funds.

Nicor Gas serves most of the northern third of Illinois and parts of west central Illinois. The company does not serve the city of Chicago, which is served by Peoples Gas. Some North Shore Chicago suburbs, but not all, are served by North Shore Gas.