To keep franchise, ComEd must reform, Lightfoot warns

The mayor delivers an ultimatum to the utility’s CEO, but her leverage may be limited.

As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

See Mayor Lightfoot's letter to ComEd, posted online here.

Please note that ComEd's parent company, Exelon, is the largest nuclear power utility in the country. In 2016, Exelon received a $2.35 billion bailout, at ratepayer expense, with support from IL House Speaker Michael Madigan. Commonwealth Edison also secured another $750 million, in the form of a rate hike, at ratepayer expense, again with Madigan's support.

Illinois and Ohio Bribery Scandals Show the Perils of Mixing Utilities and Politics

For utilities, all things take a back seat to profit, and their power can be bad for customers and the climate.

As reported by Inside Climate News.

Columbus utility giant AEP funded dark money spending in HB 6 campaign

As reported by the Columbus Dispatch.

AEP (American Electric Power), in addition to many coal burning power plants, also owns the Donald C. Cook nuclear power plant in southwest Michigan.

They Spent Millions to Protect Polluters. Then They Got Busted by the FBI

As reported by Mother Jones:

They Spent Millions to Protect Polluters. Then They Got Busted by the FBI.

The strange Ohio case offers juicy details on how corporations block environmental campaigns.

Ohio Nuclear Power Scandal

Karl GrossmanInvestigative journalist Karl Grossman (photo, left), a Beyond Nuclear board member, has published an article in Counterpunch that begins:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI this week charged the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and four others in a $61 million scheme to use $1 billion in ratepayers' money to keep two decrepit nuclear power plants operating.

And, said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, David DeVillers, at a press conference after the arrests Tuesday: “This is by no means over. We are going to continue with this investigation.”