The gas utility company’s pipe replacement program had been on hold for over a year so the Illinois Commerce Commission could determine how to move forward with the program, which has been years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Thursday’s decision does not have an immediate effect on customers’ bills, according to state regulators.

The bill comes as several state officials warn that Illinois is falling behind on its clean energy goals. The state’s main funding mechanism for renewable energy projects also faces a potential $3 billion budget shortfall in the coming years.

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.

Following almost a year of legal battles and fierce public opposition, water utility Aqua Illinois is set to raise its rates in 2025. The privately owned water utility has not released an estimate of the exact impact the increase will have on customer bills in 14 northern Illinois counties.

Staying warm during Chicago’s frigid winters will get more expensive if Peoples Gas is permitted to resume its massive pipe replacement program, according to a report released Tuesday by the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.

New safety requirements for carbon dioxide pipelines as well as a temporary ban on their construction are now in effect after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that passed the General Assembly earlier this year.

Illinois American Water, which serves 1.3 million people, is seeking a $152.4 million rate increase. Aqua Illinois, which serves 273,000 people, is seeking a $19.2 million increase. The requests must be reviewed by the Illinois Commerce Commission before the utilities are allowed to modify their rates.

Carbon capture and sequestration technology is used to take carbon dioxide — a powerful greenhouse gas — and move it through pipelines before storing it deep underground. Several groups are pushing for a bill that would regulate the emerging technology at the same time some companies are pitching pipeline projects to state regulators.

Natural gas is fueling a fight between consumer advocates, a powerful utility company and the state. Amid competing advertising campaigns, accusations of mismanagement and state decarbonization efforts, the Illinois Commerce Commission is starting a process that will shape how the state regulates the increasingly controversial industry.

The plans propose billions of dollars in spending and lay out the companies’ plans for supporting the state’s climate goals, including the transition away from greenhouse gas emitting energy generation over the next 20 years. The ICC is now reviewing the plans in a process likely to last the rest of the year. 

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with filing rate cases. 

There is a battle over a multi-billion dollar, decades-long project to upgrade Chicago’s aging natural gas pipelines.

Chicago utility Peoples Gas is requesting a multimillion-dollar bump to its already record-high rate increase approved by regulators last month. Consumer and environmental advocates have pushed back strongly against the request.

Regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission unanimously approved rate hikes for four major natural gas utilities, but the little-known regulatory body’s decision was perhaps more notable for what it rejected. The board flexed its regulatory muscle, slashing the utilities’ requested rate increases by as much as 50 percent.

Utility customers throughout Illinois will likely see higher natural gas bills beginning in January after staff at the state’s utility regulatory agency recommended rate increases for four gas companies.

A group of businesses filed a complaint with state regulators alleging that Chicago electric company Commonwealth Edison improperly raised customer bills this summer. The complaint claims the utility failed to follow proper regulatory channels.