On Friday, Com Ed workers were moving lines west of Route 31 on 176 as part of an intersection improvement project that will eliminate one road coming in and out of the corner.

When legislators vote to hike your electric rates, it seems to me that people ought to know who is responsible.

Senate Bill 9 passed lickty-split this month, just as previous misnamed “smart grid” bills did.

Since I have published the previous roll calls, it seems appropriate to do this follow-up.

While the utilities say they need “help” in paying to upgrade their infrastructure, I would not have voted for the bill because both Commonwealth Edison and Ameren (southern Illinois’ electric utility) have exclusive franchises to provide reliable electric power.

That means to me they should have been paying to maintain sufficient infrastructure all along.

I see no reason to bail them out for diverting previous electric bill payments to purposes other than maintaining a system capable of delivering the load of electricity demanded.

Obviously, the majority of both the Illinois Senate and House disagree with that logic.

Here’s the Senate roll call:

The Illinois State Senate roll call on Senate Bill 9, the one that will raise electricity rates for Com Ed and Ameren.

State Senator Dan Duffy was the only local member of the upper chamber who voted against the bill.  State Sentors Pam Althoff and Karen McConnaughay voted, “Yes.”  The bill passed 44-9-1.

Here’s the House roll call:

This is the Illinois House roll call on Senate Bill 8, the legislation that will hike electric rates charged by Com Ed and Ameren.

Of legislators representing part of McHenry County, only Jack Franks voted, “No.”

Dave McSweeney, Tim Schmitz, Mike Tryon and Barb Wheeler vote in favor of the bill, which passed 86-38-3.