In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker makes hundreds of appointments to positions of authority throughout state government. Some of these positions are innocuous, while others make decisions that can and sometimes do have life-or-death consequences.
This reality was on display last month when the members of the state’s Prisoner Review Board, appointed by Pritzker, released Crosetti Brand from prison. This was the second time in just a few months Brand was in prison. This time he was released despite the fact that he had made threats to kill his former girlfriend, Laterria Smith. Less than 24 hours after his release, Brand was back in custody, Smith was in the hospital with multiple stab wounds, and her 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, was dead.
While investigations continue into how the Prisoner Review Board could possibly make such a reckless decision to release Brand, there is another potentially avoidable tragedy brewing at the hands of a different Pritzker-appointed agency, the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Among the ICC’s various duties is the responsibility to regulate utility providers in Illinois, including the provision of electricity, natural gas, telecommunications, water and sewer services to customers across the state. Yet, the ICC is failing its residents in multiple ways. One area of grave concern in Chicago has to do with ensuring the safe distribution of natural gas across the city.
Peoples Gas maintains nearly 4,520 miles of gas pipelines in Chicago. In this massive network, 1,340 miles, or nearly one-third of it, are aging cast and ductile iron pipes. A 2020 engineering study of the system performed by Kiefner & Associates found that 83% of this cast iron pipe network had an average remaining life span of less than 15 years — and that was four years ago.
As the Chicago Tribune reported in December 2020, the Peoples Gas’ Safety Modernization Program was started in response to calls from the Obama administration for a modernization of aging pipeline systems following the 2010 explosion in San Bruno, California, that killed eight people, injured 58 and destroyed 38 homes. The goal was clearly to avoid further tragedies in other locales, including right here.
With a clear urgency to replace these aging pipes, Peoples Gas had been diligently working to upgrade the system until November 2023, when the ICC ordered Peoples Gas to halt these ongoing pipe replacement projects so they could study the program. Despite the ICC’s written acknowledgment of the urgent need to replace the remaining pipes, commissioners gave themselves a year to render a decision on how Peoples Gas should proceed. In the meantime, everyone waits.
What started as a laudable program for the purposes of public safety and tragedy-avoidance has been carelessly disregarded by this new slate of commissioners recently appointed by Gov. Pritzker.
This reckless decision has been followed by other questionable decisions. Shortly after halting the replacement of deteriorating gas pipes with a questionable life span, Pritzker’s ICC rejected the statutorily required electrical grid upgrade plans put forth by both the state’s major electrical utilities, Ameren and Commonwealth Edison. This action further delays critical infrastructure investment in Illinois’ electrical grid, which is needed to help ensure reliable energy service to people across the state.
As the Pritzker administration continues to aggressively push electrification plans forward for automobiles and household appliances, the need for a reliable and robust electrical supply becomes even more important. But both Ameren and ComEd are essentially being blocked from performing the necessary upgrades to ensure the system keeps working well.
While some appointments made by the governor to state agencies do not have outside input, many require confirmation by the Illinois Senate, including the ICC. Since the confirmation process takes time, most appointees awaiting confirmation can begin serving immediately upon appointment.
The five-member ICC currently consists of three unconfirmed appointees who have been acting in their roles for nearly a year. This includes acting Chairman Doug Scott, under whose leadership the commission has begun acting with an apparent disregard for public safety and risking the future reliability of utility services.
As pending ICC appointees near the deadline for confirmation, members of the Illinois Senate must consider the potential impact of this commission’s actions to date — including decisions that pose real public safety risks. Fortunately, senators have a record of recent decisions by these board members to help inform their deliberations.
The members of the Senate, as well as the general public, deserve to know why Pritzker’s hand-picked ICC is making questionable decisions that increase public risk rather than prioritizing safety and reliability. We can’t expect our state to grow when we have outdated and potentially dangerous utility infrastructure.
We’ve already seen the devastating consequences of Pritzker’s dangerous appointments to the Prisoner Review Board. It’s not too late for the Senate to prevent a new tragedy, this time at the hands of the Illinois Commerce Commission. These board members should commit to a new path, or the Senate should reject them.
Dan McConchie is state senator for the 21st District, representing Chicago’s northwest suburbs. He is the former Senate Republican leader. Outside of the General Assembly, he works as a renewable energy consultant.