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This week, Chicagoans saw the coldest winter weather of the season so far, which was likely to have impacted consumers’ gas bills. But so could the nearly $13 billion proposal for gas line replacement — which could have Chicagoans seeing record-breaking increases for the next 15 years. Marissa Sulek reports.
Peoples Gas says replacing the pipes is an urgent safety matter.
The hike was fueled mainly by the company's Safety Modernization Program to replace nearly 2,000 miles of dangerous, old, deteriorating natural gas pipes.
The Illinois Public Interest Research Group and other organizations are seeking to educate the public about where their money is actually going. Megan Hickey reports.
State legislation was passed to pave the way for providers like AT&T to end servicing traditional copper landlines. After the AT&T cell service outage last week, some say landlines are more important than they are being given credit for. CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reports.
The $402 million dollar rate hike Peoples Gas is requesting could increase customers' bills by about $140 a year. Advocates said families on the South Side and West Side are already struggling to keep up with payments.
"Failure to invest in infrastructure is the kind of thing that happened in Texas two winters ago during their harsh winter storm. There was no heat and more than 240 people lost their lives."
ComEd is asking for a rate change, but they didn't call it a hike. In fact, in plain English it says, "Customer bills not expected to increase as part of the filing." CBS 2's Andrew Ramos reports.
The bitter blast means many of us are trying to stay warm inside and that means higher gas bills.
Cathryn Harris' power went out, her sump pumps broke, then her basement flooded - and ComEd admitted the outage was because of a failed underground power line. But that's not enough to get the utility giant to pay for damages.
If you're struggling to pay your utility bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Citizens Utility Board, or CUB, wants to remind you there is help available.
Get ready for a summer of ripoffs. In the last four years, Illinois residents have overpaid more than $600 million for electricity, and it's about to get worse.
CUB said technology is allowing scam artists to make thousands of calls a minute, and the calls have reached an "alarming level." The telecom services firm YouMail estimates there were a record 47.8 billion automated calls in 2018 -- most scam calls or telemarketers.
A consumer advocacy group is pushing a proposal to protect customers shopping for alternative electric and gas companies.
The Citizens Utility Board, AARP and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group are teaming up in opposition to proposed legislation in the Illinois General Assembly to would let AT&T get rid of traditional landline phones.
The Citizens Utility Board said it has seen a 65% increase in complaints and questions this winter about unregulated natural gas suppliers.
The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) released Tuesday its first-ever guide to help TV viewers cut costs.
Top officers of Peoples Gas "knowingly misled" state regulators about the ballooning cost of a multibillion-dollar upgrade program to pave the way for a 2015 merger, according to a complaint filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan and a utility watchdog.
It's unusual for three utilities and the Citizens Utility Board to come together for a single news conference, but they did just that Friday to try to prevent customers from being scammed.
The Illinois Commerce Commission on Wednesday announced an investigation into Peoples Gas' controversial and pricey gas-main replacement program in Chicago after allegations by two whistleblowers.
A couple years ago, you could save decent money on your electric bill merely by switching to an alternate energy supplier, but Citizens Utility Board spokesman Jim Chilsen said not anymore. That is because those companies have started hiking rates, and ComEd has gotten out from under an expensive contract.
Illinois lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow ComEd to charge customers about $2 more per month to cover the costs of its nuclear power plants, drawing criticism from a utility watchdog group that says ComEd's parent company already makes plenty of profit.
People's Gas and North Shore Gas customers can expect to see an increase in their monthly heating bills, reports WBBM's Mariam Sobh.
Have a customer service horror story that involves dealing with a utility company? The Citizens Utility Board wants to hear from you on social media.
Illinois state regulators and a consumer watchdog group were looking at a $9 billion deal for the sale of two local natural gas suppliers to a utility company in Wisconsin.
Witnesses said a Suzuki GSX-R was traveling at a high rate of speed when it failed to navigate a curve, causing the crash.
A teacher and soccer coach at Downers Gove South High School has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage student.
It's unclear where the fire started, but it spread to the attic and void spaces, making it difficult to access.
An elderly woman was killed and four other people were injured in a McHenry County car crash near Marengo, Illinois, Sunday amid "whiteout conditions."
Preliminary investigations indicated that the boy was driving a REX110 ATV with an 8-year-old passenger heading northbound on the sidewalk between the 900 and 1000 block of Mission Boulevard.
Presidents are given the extraordinary power by the 227-year-old law to order the arrest, detention and deportation of noncitizens who are 14 years or older and come from countries staging an "invasion or predatory incursion" of the U.S.
The Senate on Friday passed a Republican-led stopgap measure to keep the government funded ahead of a midnight deadline.
Office of Civil Rights employees said this means students with open cases will have their claims backlogged even further.
President Trump is planning to invoke a wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as soon as Friday to authorize the summary deportation of some migrants.
The suit from 20 states and the District of Columbia comes two days after the federal agency fired more than 1,300 employees.
This threat was a response to the EU's 50% tariffs on American whiskey, which are set to go into effect next month.
We're looking for Chicago's Top Dog, and we need your help. Nominate your favorite Chicago institution serving up Chicago-style hot dogs, and it might show up in our brackets.
A couple in DuPage County are opening a co-op grocery store they hope can address the strain of ever-rising food costs.
Rosemont, Illinois, is putting the brakes on installing electric vehicle chargers inside parking structures, more than a year after an EV caught fire.
Need a REAL ID? A new supercenter in downtown Chicago will be taking walk-ins starting Wednesday.
A musician from Chatham has written a song to help find a kidney donor, a musical plea to end his yearslong wait for a transplant.
Have you ever wondered how your body is aging, or why some people seem more vibrant the older they get? Those are some of the questions a doctor at Northwestern is trying to answer.
Five years ago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Medical Intensive Care Unit was in the process of being transformed into a COVID ICU.
A second person has died in the measles outbreak that started in West Texas.
More than 97% of measles cases across North and South America have been in the U.S. or Canada.
CBS News Chicago checked in with Momentum Coffee owner Nikki Bravo on Wednesday to see how she was doing with the uncertainty in the market.
This threat was a response to the EU's 50% tariffs on American whiskey, which are set to go into effect next month.
Under the city ordinance, fur retailers in Chicago could no longer sell real fur coats. They could only sell those made with synthetic materials.
The price of a wide array of products will likely soon be going up as a result of the tariffs — affecting everything from food to electronics.
The other six stores will remain open.
You can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day without a bit of Irish dancing, and Monday you could get some lessons right from the pros.
Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe and Grace Jones, and Kygo are among this year's artists performing in Highland Park from June 6 to Aug. 31.
The season begins with Luigi Cherubini's "Medea," Oct. 11 to Oct. 26.
According to the Lollapalooza social media accounts, the lineup will be released on March 18.
In announcing Korshak's death, Broadway In Chicago called her a "trailblazing force" in the public relations industry.
Meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist has the extended forecast.
Throughout the South and Midwest, residents and work crews started to survey the destruction and clean up Monday after severe weather across seven states killed at least 40 people since Friday.
President Donald Trump ignored a court order to block his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport thousands of immigrants, and claimed Pres. Joe Biden's pre-emptive pardons of the committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection to be "void" because he used an autopen.
Fire officials said smoke and flames were visible upon arrival, and crews got water on the initial fire inside the home.
On Monday night, work will officially begin on the third and final phase of the Kennedy Expressway rehabilitation project — and traffic headaches are sure to begin right along with it.
A teacher and soccer coach at Downers Gove South High School has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage student.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the boy was driving a REX110 ATV with an 8-year-old passenger heading northbound on the sidewalk between the 900 and 1000 block of Mission Boulevard.
Traffic headaches are sure to begin right along with the project.
Witnesses said a Suzuki GSX-R was traveling at a high rate of speed when it failed to navigate a curve, causing the crash.
It's unclear where the fire started, but it spread to the attic and void spaces, making it difficult to access.
A mother has filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois and others her son's death by suicide. Internal documents and emails show missteps that may have led to her son's death.
Cook County Crime Stoppers are now offering a new $1,000 reward for information leading to an indictment or arrest in the murder of Rosa Chacon.
CBS News Chicago obtained records showing Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, Illinois had been repeatedly warned by the state for their handling of bodies waiting to be cremated.
Rose Bronstein founded the group Buckets Over Bullying, and has been moving mountains with her local organization.
Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights is accused of mishandling the bodies of people who recently died.
The Fighting Illini – both men's and women's teams – are getting ready for their 2025 NCAA Tournament debuts.
This is the second appearance for Illinois under Head Coach Shauna Green, and the 10th in program history.
After winning four of their last five games, the Illini are headed right up the road to Milwaukee as the No. 6 seed in the Midwest.
Auburn is the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, with Duke, Houston and Florida joining the Tigers on the No. 1 line in the March Madness bracket.
The Wolves host the Texas Stars on Friday night at the Allstate Arena.
The robber took the victim's belongings and ran off the train when it arrived at the Cicero Avenue station, police said.
The victims, all teenage boys or young men, were outside a residence in the 4200 block of West Crystal Street when they were shot.
The cars were taken to unknown locations by a fictitious tow company, and the victims tried to contact the tow truck driver and company with no success, police said.
Two groups got into a fight in a liquor store in the 1900 block of West 51st Street, when a 22-year-old woman pulled out a gun and started shooting.
It comes days after more than a dozen businesses in Highland Park and Morton Grove were burglarized in a similar pattern.
