Apple Canyon Lake Property Owners’ Ass’n v. Illinois Commerce Comm’n

Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Public Utilities
Citation
Case Number: 
2013 IL App (3d) 100832
Decision Date: 
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
District: 
3d Dist.
Division/County: 
ICC
Holding: 
Affirmed in part and reversed in part; remanded.
Justice: 
HOLDRIDGE
Illinois Commerce Commission improperly granted Commission staff's motion to strike from homeowners associations' brief references to comments made by members of the public during public forums and on Commission's website as to rate increases and new billing and accounting systems of utilities. Utilities established a prima facie case of need for new accounting and billing systems, and Associations failed to meet their burden to show that costs of new systems were unreasonable because of inefficiency or bad faith. Credibility of experts and weight of their testimony are matters for the Commission as the finder of fact. (LYTTON and SCHMIDT, concurring.)