The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation of Exelon and ComEd’s lobbying activities.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago also is probing the lobbying practices of the two companies in Illinois.
At the same time, Exelon CEO Chris Crane told analysts that the company will shutter as many as four Illinois plants if wide-ranging energy legislation isn’t passed to increase ratepayer subsidies.
In addition to the previously identified Byron, Braidwood and Dresden plants, Crane said Exelon is prepared to close its LaSalle power station if Springfield doesn’t come through next spring.
In other Chicago business news:
Outcome Health has agreed to a $70 million settlement with the Department of Justice.
Once a high-flying startup, raising nearly $500 million from investors, the company sold advertising to drugmakers on a network of TV screens in doctors’ offices.
According to the justice department, Outcome admits to defrauding advertisers by selling inventory it didn’t have. Despite the settlement, the federal investigation is ongoing.
Finally, ride-hailing firm Uber is suing Skokie over new taxes, alleging they violate state law.
The Skokie tax, adopted in May, charges a flat fee of 35 cents for each individual trip and 15 cents for each shared ride that begins or ends in the north suburb.
The tax resembles Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to expand ride-hailing taxes in Chicago, cutting congestion downtown and raising as much as $40 million a year to improve city finances.
Crain’s Headlines is a joint production between WTTW and Crain’s Chicago Business. It airs every Monday through Thursday on the WTTW News program “Chicago Tonight.”
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