
Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore exits the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on May 2, 2023 in Chicago after being found guilty on all counts in the “ComEd Four” bribery trial. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
By Ray Long and Jason Meisner – Chicago Tribune
The Commonwealth Edison scandal engulfing indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is now costing its parent company, Exelon Corp., $46.2 million in penalties under a new settlement with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC charged Exelon and ComEd with fraud in the alleged scheme to influence and reward Madigan as several lucrative pieces of utility legislation passed the Democratic-dominated General Assembly from 2011 to 2019. Exelon agreed to pay the penalty, the SEC said.
Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore also faces new SEC bribery-related charges, but her case will be litigated, according to the commission. Pramaggiore already was convicted in the high-profile ComEd Four corruption case in federal court this year and awaits sentencing in January.
The new SEC penalties follow ComEd’s July 2020 deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office to pay a $200 million fine and cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for dropping a bribery count against the electric utility. The bribery count was dropped earlier this year.
The Illinois Commerce Commission also previously approved a roughly $38 million refund for ComEd customers — or about, on average, a little less than $5 per residential customer — to address the question of whether customer costs were tied to the inappropriate conduct. The refund was derided by one utility watchdog as “chump change.”
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