Pat Quinn Says Tea Bagging is the Answer

By Joanna Miller in News on Sep 19, 2006 8:15PM

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn has a suggestion for ComEd customers who want to fight rate hikes - send in a tea bag with your next bill. Outraged over a more than 20 percent rate increase, Quinn is hoping this sends the right message. We're not sure what that message is, but we're hoping it doesn't involve getting a phone call from a horny customer service representative at 2 a.m.

Quinn thinks it's obscene. The profits the utility giants stand to make, that is. When the new rates take effect in January, downtown buildings will face 50 to 80 percent increases, Quinn says. As CBS2 reports, this will be an "uncomfortable squeeze" for downtown businesses.

An "uncomfortable squeeze?" We're no experts, but we think they must be doing it wrong. A representative from Great Steaks & Potato says this would be a big problem for them. We can only imagine.

ComEd wants everybody to just relax, get into the moment and let things happen. They say that because the rates were frozen and reduced, the new rates will actually be lower than what customers paid for power a decade ago.

ComEd makes it sound so good. They're really dreamy, and we'd like to believe them, but for some reason, we think we'd just regret it eventually.