South Cook News

A proposed deal with electric utility company Commonwealth Edison brokered by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was blocked from advancing during a City Council meeting on Wednesday, according to a WTTW article published on Thursday.

The agreement reached by both parties in early January is being criticized due to its failure to require ComEd to stop charging late fees and disconnecting service for customers who have not paid their bills, which was initially demanded by Lightfoot in a September 2020 letter.

In a joint statement with ComEd released before she officially presented the deal to the Council, Lightfoot said that the agreement, which called for a $100 million investment to combat climate change, was "a big win for Chicago" that will "accelerate an equitable transition to clean, renewable energy." ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones also referred to the deal as a "win-win."

Lightfoot told council that she wanted a final vote on March 1, one day after she and city alderpeople ask voters for new four-year office terms. However, Alderman Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) used a parliamentary maneuver to block the deal from advancing to a joint committee comprised of the Council's Finance and Environmental Protection and Energy Committees. Vasquez argued that a vote on the agreement shouldn't be held until the new term begins in May and that Lightfoot was attempting to rush the vote.

"This all sounds like old Chicago to me," Vasquez said.