ComEd Equipment Dispute May Be Causing Problems

A reliable and consistent supply of electricity is essential for the North Shore Sanitary District (NSSD) to fulfill its mission of both protecting our environment and treating wastewater for 315,000 residents in 17 Lake County communities.

The , for even a brief period, can result in the discharge of raw sewage into Lake Michigan and other local waterways, posing a threat to public health and safety.

Like many of our customers, the NSSD experienced electrical service disruptions during the storms that struck Lake County and . The second ComEd outage was cutting off power to District facilities, including those protecting Lake Michigan, for a combined 368 hours – the equivalent of more than two weeks. 

Fortunately, the NSSD has invested more than $11.5 million to add emergency generation and storage capacity at its lakefront pumping stations and its three wastewater treatment plants. Thanks to these upgrades and the dedicated efforts of District employees, no sewage was discharged into Lake Michigan or any other waterways during the ComEd service interruptions. 

Despite these investments, and plans by the District to spend another $7.2 million for emergency generation and storage infrastructure, is attempting to force the NSSD and its customers to pay more than $300,000 to $125,000 upfront and at least $175,000 over the next 20 years to replace electrical equipment owned and operated by ComEd at the North Chicago pumping station. The District hopes that the delays in service restoration this summer were not the result of this ongoing dispute over ComEd’s failure to replace their apparatus serving the North Chicago facility.

has indicated that the equipment, which automatically switches electricity from the normal feeder to an emergency feeder in the event of a power outage, is no longer functional, but that it won’t replace it unless the District signs a contract and pays ComEd for labor and equipment rental costs. The District has not requested any new or different services at the North Chicago pumping station and doesn’t understand why ComEd refuses to replace equipment it owns and maintains and to restore the level of service that has existed at the facility for decades. The District has filed an informal complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission regarding the utility’s apparent disregard of its responsibilities, and is in the process of filing a formal complaint. 

In the meantime, electrical service to this lakefront facility remains compromised.

Dan Pierce
President of the North Shore Sanitary District