The State of Illinois owes Springfield’s municipal utility more than $2.7 million for electricity at the State Capitol and surrounding buildings.
Despite the mounting bill, it’s unlikely that power to the Illinois Statehouse will be shut off any time soon.
Dave Druker, spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, told Illinois Times on Tuesday that the amount White’s office owes Springfield City Water, Light and Power for electricity at the Capitol complex is $2,743,187. The secretary of state is in charge of the electricity for the Capitol complex, but White lacks authority to pay CWLP because Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature haven’t passed a state budget for the fiscal year that started on July 1.
The Illinois Capitol complex includes the Capitol building, the Stratton and Howlett office buildings, the Illinois State Library, the State Archives, the Capitol Complex Visitor Center, and the shuttered Illinois State Museum.
Doug Brown, chief utility engineer for CWLP, said the utility hasn’t pulled the plug on the state because it “would not want to lose a month’s revenue,” if service is cut but no money is appropriated by the legislature to get the power turned back on.
“We’re kind of stuck with the politics of the Statehouse,” Brown said.
The state normally pays the bills for its roughly 200 utility accounts on a monthly basis just like a residential or commercial customer, Brown said, but payments from the state are usually 60 days behind. Last year, the state paid CWLP about $22 million for electricity, he said. That number includes accounts other than the Capitol complex.
Brown isn’t yet worried about getting paid, for the simple reason that, unlike a residential or business customer, the state can’t skip town.
“The state isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
While Brown says the utility has sent the state notice of a possible service disconnection, he said it’s too early to draw a line in the sand. In the meantime, he says the utility has enough reserve funds that going several months without being paid by the state won’t wreck CWLP’s cash flow.
“It would certainly be in our best interest if they come to a resolution more quickly,” he said.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at pyeagle@Illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2015.
