On November 18, Anne Pramaggiore, former CEO of Commonwealth Edison (a major subsidiary of Exelon Nuclear) and three others, including Michael McClain, a confidant of Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, were charged with bribery in a ComEd lobbying scheme. In recent years, ComEd has secured massive rate hikes, and Exelon a $2.35 billion bailout at ratepayer expense, with the help of Madigan, who has served as IL House Speaker since the early 1980s, longer than any counterpart in the country. The scandal threatens to oust Madigan from the Speakership. There are reports of dark money in current Illinois energy legislation lobbying, as Exelon seeks even more billion dollar bailouts for its dangerously old reactor fleet.
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