City Council, Citizens Voice Anger With ComEd

More than 150 Highland Parkers vented their anger at (ComEd) and demanded action Monday night at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting. 

Representatives from the electric company did their best to explain the reasons during the and , as well as why many frequent lose power during less extreme weather.

'An undue burden'

chastised the company for its failures and echoed the public's demand for action. She asked ComEd to return Sept. 12 with a plan. 

“This is an undue burden on public health and safety,” Rotering said of the utility’s response to outages. “They must be accountable. Things need to change. This is unacceptable.” 

ComEd Vice President for External Affairs and Large Customer Solutions Michael Guerra told Patch after the meeting he would be back with a plan Sept. 12. 

This was Guerra's and External Affairs Manager Eric Duray's second trip to the Council Chambers in less than a month. They made a similar presentation June 27.

expressed anger that Exelon Corp., ComEd's parent company, could be so profitable when the company’s infrastructure appeared in such poor shape. He accused upper management of letting Highland Park bear the brunt of planned dysfunction. 

“There is a massive disconnect here,” Kirsch said. “This is a function of economics.  It’s unconscionable residents can be out of power while they make billions in profit. Until we have adequate service they don’t deserve to make a profit.” 

Guerra defended his company’s profits because of its overall performance. He claimed ComEd performs better than a majority of public utilities. 

“We’re consistently in the top quartile of power companies,” Guerra said. “Overall our performance will look good in comparison.” 

Kirsch was not satisfied with the response. 

“They manipulate numbers to fit their purpose, to make them look better," he said. "This still a matter of economics."

and were also there to listen. May was one of more than 40 citizens who lined up to express their grievances. 

“There has to be a paradigm shift in how all this is handled,” May said. “We have to do it differently in the future.” 

May has scheduled a round table discussion with local leaders August 1. She has also called a meeting of the General Assembly’s Public Utilities Committee meeting at 10 a.m. August 16 at the Highland Park Country Club to gather public testimony. 

Garrett will host a meeting of mayors and other municipal leaders in her district Thursday in Lake Forest. May and state Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook) will be there as well. 

Process for restoring power

After Rotering opened the meeting, Guerra and Duray gave a presentation. Among other things Duray explained the company’s priorities for restoring power. 

“The first thing we do is get the substations up so the power can flow out,” Duray said. “Then we take care of the hospitals, police and fire. They we get the largest number of customers back up.” 

Rotering pointed out that Highland Park’s main police and fire stations were without power for four days after the July 11 storms. Duray was silent on the issue. There was never an explanation for the inconsistency. 

That omission and the failure to present a plan between the two meetings were not lost on Neil Weinfield. He is an environmental attorney who has appeared with clients before commissions to explain similar problems. 

“The first thing I have them say is ‘I’m sorry. Then they present a plan to fix it,” Weinfield said. “BP (British Petroleum) worked on it. I’ve not seen that from ComEd."

Garrett is ready to propose legislation to make ComEd more accountable. She wants full disclosure on their bills so people know how their money is spent. 

“Nowhere on the bill do we see what is being used for research or upgrading,” Garrett said. “Only half of what we pay is for power. Of all the money Commonwealth Edison bills why can’t we see that is used for upgrades?” 

'An endemic to our region'

After the meeting Guerra promised to take a personal look at the problems mentioned by each citizen who spoke. Many talked of losing power not only during storms but for no apparent reason. 

“I will follow up with each homeowner,” Guerra said. “This did seem to come from a few distinct areas,” he added about the customer complaints. 

Rotering wants to see an area-wide effort to hold ComEd accountable. “This is endemic to our region,” Rotering said. “I’m hopeful this will send a message.” 

Garrett thinks meetings like the one Monday will make a difference. 

“The residents and City Council of Highland Park should hold Commonwealth Edison’s feet to the fire,” she said. “That’s the only way Commonwealth Edison will respond to the issues.”