SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Commerce Commission announced Friday several of the state’s large and small regulated electric, natural gas, water and sewer utilities have voluntarily agreed to keep residential customers connected for an additional month due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
The moratorium on disconnections expired on July 26. However, with the voluntary extension, disconnections for residential customers will not occur for most customers until September 2020.
Ameren Illinois, Aqua Illinois, Consumer Gas, ComEd, Illinois American Water, Liberty, Nicor, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, Utility Services of Illinois are among the utilities with extended moratoriums on service disconnections.
Several utilities have also extended similar relief to business customers and have agreed to continue waiving late fees.
On June 18, 2020, the Commission approved the landmark COVID-19 utility relief agreements with 13 utility companies and numerous consumer advocacy groups and parties.
In addition to extending the moratorium on disconnections and late payment fees, the agreements provided historic consumer protections involving utility credit and collection practices, deferred payment agreements, and temporary waivers of reconnection fees and new deposit requirements.