>> As the temperature climbs, your electric bill likely will too.

Commonwealth Edison, Chicago's primary electricity distributor has announced that city residents monthly bills will increase beginning June 1st, the utility points to higher energy supply.

Clock costs increased demand from data centers and strain on the nation's largest power grid.

As key reasons for the increase come its CEO.

Guilt in Eunice joins us now to explain some of that and more welcome.

Thank you for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

calm announced in May, of course, that it is expecting monthly electricity prices to rise for consumers beginning June first.

So couple days ago, how much more per month can Chicagoans expect to see their bills about 2 or $3 per month.

And it's really because of the.

PJM interconnection supply costs.

This is the >> great operator that controls power markets.

And we passed that supply costs to our customers without any markup.

>> Okay.

ComEd also announced a snoo small business Customer affordability initiative today.

Tell us about that yet this morning we were at the Chicago Urban League and we announced our small biz small and medium-sized business customer relief fund.

This is really to help customers who are late.

A small businesses who are late in paying their electric bills to ease the burden, especially now in the summertime.

When air conditioning uses.

It says much more than that other normal times white what will feel is important to to focus on small businesses, small and medium-sized businesses where we last year we did for residential customers.

So we had a 10 million customer relief fund for residential customers last year.

And then we instituted a low-income discount rate.

This is an income base discount rate for families up to 300% of the federal poverty level.

So this year we thought that it would be wise to add customer relief fund for small and medium-sized businesses.

They are the anchors of our community.

They create a lot of the jobs and and provide the tax base for our communities.

And it's very, very important, especially at this time.

What affordability an issue for us to step in and try and help is that in addition to that same program for consumers again this year, or is just a matter of can help everybody?

Every?

Yeah.

So this is a separate fund.

2 and half million specifically for small and medium-sized businesses.

And it's also not the only program that we would like to offer them.

We have energy efficiency programs, solar energy, battery storage, things that can really help our customers save on their bills.

Not only this summer, but ongoing.

you know, I said exactly okay.

So another huge factor, of course, that we've all been talking about.

This driving across is data centers.

The demand for the centers has skyrocketed with the use of AI quite a lot of electricity has come it approaching in energy demand created by these data centers we're making sure that data centers are paying their fair share.

We introduce a tariff.

It was approved.

>> By the Illinois Commerce Commission to make sure that the costs imposed by data centers on our transmission and distribution system is paid for by those data centers to make sure that those extra costs are not passed through are the rest of our customers.

There's been some legislation floating around.

Springfield did not pass in this previous legislative session that would regulate data centers.

That was the power Act.

>> Lawmakers say would prevent tech companies from shifting those energy costs on to consumers.

Just comment support the Power Act.

Well, we support responsible development of data centers.

First, we want to make sure there are no cost shifting.

We also support that it should be it should limit its impact on the environment.

Water use noise, cetera.

So I think you'll see a lot more >> initiatives, whether it's the legislation or through executive action to make sure that data centers that are developing a responsible way.

>> that possible on the is is some of the price that consumers are seeing in our pay?

Is that not also based on sort the speculation, right?

The anticipation more data centers that are expected to hopes to come online and they may or may not materialize.

So it's really a matter of supply and demand.

You're right.

There is a forecast on what will be connected to the grid.

Some of them may happen.

Some of them may not.

That's the reason why we created this new tariff.

>> And we require data centers.

The post financial security to make sure that if their applications or their plans don't happen.

U.S.

planned that those costs are not transfer to the rest of the rate payers.

So in an order issued in March, the Illinois Commerce Commission wrote, quote, The cumulative maximum demand or request to serve new large load projects that are already in the application process is nearly 1.2 times greater.

>> Then the highest demand comment has ever needed to serve those lowered load large load projects, of course, referring mainly to data centers is come in ready to meet this demand going forward.

Yes.

And then the way we're doing this is we want to make sure that.

Those application that you cited are all of the projects that we have in the pipeline.

Most likely not all of them are going to happen the tariffs that were requiring the financial security that we're imposing the higher application fees that we are asking from this data centers.

I think we'll really flush out those that are speculative and will only be processing the real ones.

And I believe that if we do that, we should be able to meet the needs specially if the supply and demand imbalances resolve by PJM so come its franchise agreement with the city of Chicago.

It expired back in December 2020 know this is the deal that has been in place due to its remains in place to the automatic extensions that are baked into the agreement.

>> But the new deal would give the city more leeway to transition to clean cleaner energy.

This deal was initially in 1992, so is what's the hold up?

Is there a plan to a new franchise deal?

Well, said the existing agreement in place.

>> I don't think we need an agreement to transition in Chicago to to a you know, clean, transitional, clean energy.

We're already doing that.

But if and when the city's ready to look at that, a renewal of that agreement will be happy to engage with them.

Ok, have there been any conversations?

I think not recently, OK?

So you haven't heard from the mayor's office, for example, or anyone not not recently recently, OK, we know that also come it is still dealing with the fallout from the corruption scandal in which former CEO and Promise your E and other company executives were.

>> Found to have bribed former House Speaker Michael Madigan to secure favorable legislation.

Promissory is awaiting a new trial.

It should be said what steps has taken over the years to rebuild trust with customers?

Well, we really have been instituting a lot of reforms over the last 5, 6 years.

And we operate at the highest level of standard of standards of integrity and ethics.

And, you know, that is, you know, those are things that are on the rearview mirror at this point for us in the rearview mirror.

And I mean, is there anything community things that you might be steps that you all might be taking to.

Well, in short it comes to the customers some review, absolutely all of our policies and procedures have been reformed and we are everything that we are duty.

We're making sure that it's all within the regular regulations and the