Nicor Gas rate deal cuts Oak Park customers' fixed charge to $15

Oak Park residents on Nicor Gas could see their monthly fixed charge drop by $6.30 under a settlement Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The deal would reduce Nicor's requested $221 million rate increase by about 63%, or roughly $140 million. If the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approves the agreement, the monthly fixed charge on every Nicor bill would fall from $21.30 to $15 starting Nov. 16, the Chicago Tribune reported.

That fixed-charge cut will be most noticeable during spring and summer, when gas usage is low, according to the Times Weekly.

The overall picture is more nuanced. Even with the settlement, the reduced rate increase would still add about $2.21 per month to the average residential bill, according to a Nicor spokesperson. That works out to roughly a 2.49% bump on total annual gas costs, WTTW reported.

Nicor Gas, owned by Atlanta-based Southern Co., is the largest gas utility in Illinois, serving 2.3 million customers across northern Illinois. Its service territory includes Oak Park and River Forest.

What Raoul's office argued

Nicor filed the $221 million rate request in January 2026, calling it a 14.5% increase over existing rates. The utility said the money would fund replacement of aging equipment and 45 miles of distribution pipeline, plus repairs to more than 400 miles of transmission pipeline.

Raoul's office pushed back, arguing Nicor had overstated projected capital spending and inflated an accounting mechanism that boosted its profits. The settlement also lowers the profit Nicor is permitted to earn on infrastructure investments.

"My office's Public Utilities Bureau will continue to fight to ensure all customers are paying fair and reasonable rates for their utilities," Raoul said in a statement.

2025 rate case

The settlement follows a 2025 rate case. In November 2025, the ICC approved a $168 million rate increase for Nicor, raising average delivery costs by $3.30 per month.

Nicor appealed that decision. Under the new settlement, the utility must withdraw its appeal. Raoul's office said dropping the appeal protects customers from potential additional increases if Nicor had prevailed in court.

Jobs agreement draws criticism

A separate supplemental agreement requires Nicor to protect more than 1,500 union jobs held by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (I.B.E.W.) Local 19 members through next year.

Not everyone is on board. Abe Scarr, director of Illinois PIRG, a consumer group that signed onto the main rate settlement, told the Chicago Tribune the supplemental jobs deal "is highly problematic in that it commits Nicor to excessive spending." Scarr said the agreement reinforces a utility narrative that it will cut jobs if the state doesn't approve its proposed rate increases.