The lack of a contract between the city of Chicago and Commonwealth Edison inked in the 21st century has tied the city’s hands in the fight against climate change and halted efforts to transition to clean energy.

Increasing energy prices are causing alarm among some consumer advocates and state policymakers, who worry that the long-term problems underlying the rising costs could lead to even higher prices or rolling blackouts.

Specific dates have not yet been set, but U.S. District Judge Manish Shah on Thursday said each of the so-called “ComEd Four” — former CEO Anne Pramaggiore, Madigan’s longtime confidant Michael McClain, and ex-ComEd lobbyists John Hooker and Jay Doherty — will be sentenced in July.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah tossed four of the nine counts on which the “ComEd Four” were convicted, agreeing with defense attorneys that the jury was wrongly instructed in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last summer that narrowed federal bribery law.

The Illinois Commerce Commission on Thursday approved scaled-back plans submitted by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois, the electric utilities for northern and southern Illinois, respectively.

Michael Madigan, 82, and Michael McClain, 77, are charged with racketeering, bribery and wire fraud. They have each pleaded not guilty.

Jurors in Madigan’s ongoing racketeering and corruption trial on Thursday heard testimony from former ComEd exec turned government mole Fidel Marquez about how the company would set aside internship slots each summer as a gift to the former Illinois House speaker.

Sixty ComEd employees left Illinois Wednesday, heading to Florida to support workers there, a spokesperson said. And an additional 200 ComEd workers will be redeployed to Florida after finishing restoration in Georgia and South Carolina following Hurricane Helene.

The longtime House speaker, along with his longtime confidant and current co-defendant Michael McClain, are finally set to go to trial this week, more than two and a half years after the men were first charged in a bombshell federal indictment that accused them of racketeering, bribery and wire fraud.

District Judge John Blakey on Wednesday denied a defense motion seeking to toss out a handful of charges, including bribery counts, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowed the federal bribery statute — known as “section 666” — in a ruling earlier this year.

Although the mailers did not identify who paid for them, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 helped bankroll the campaign, Local 150 officials told WTTW News.

Prosecutors late Tuesday filed their response to Madigan’s co-defendant, Michael McClain, whose attorneys last month filed a motion seeking to sever his case from Madigan’s before the men are set to go to trial on racketeering charges later this year.

But any decision on a new trial or verdict is still months away, as the briefing schedule extends into mid-November. The four defendants were convicted back in May 2023.

In Chicago’s historic Bronzeville community, a project that could ultimately lead to the transformation of our energy infrastructure is quietly taking shape. It’s a collaboration between the Illinois Institute of Technology, the Chicago Housing Authority and ComEd.

The U.S. Supreme Court may have thrown a wrench into some of the biggest corruption cases across Illinois — including the upcoming trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan — with a new ruling that redefines federal bribery statutes.

Environmental and consumer advocates predict more legal protections from the heat in the near future, as climate change continues to wreak havoc.