Legislation extending protections to residential and commercial utility customers from unfair back-billing practices was signed into law by Governor Pritzker on Friday. House Bill 3725 was introduced and passed by State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) in the House of Representatives and carried in the Senate by State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley).
“Back in 2017 I passed a law to protect consumers from being back-billed for years of local utility charges caused by the utility’s own error, after an incident that impacted a resident of Rockford,” said Rep. Sosnowski. “That law requires billing for service, including previously unbilled service, within 12 months for residential customers (or 24 months for non-residential customers) of municipal and other water and sewer district utilities.
The legislation we passed this year that extends this protection to consumers for all other local utilities that were not explicitly covered under the 2017 law, building on our commitment to ensure fairness for residents who should not be gouged with years’ worth of bills when the utility is the one at fault. This bill being signed into law is a victory for utility customers across Illinois”.
Senator Syverson added: “I’m glad to work alongside Rep. Sosnowski to get this legislation signed into law. No one should be hit with years of unexpected charges because a utility failed to bill correctly in the past, and this law puts a stop to that.”
HB 3725 passed with unanimous bipartisan support in both the Illinois House and Senate.
Representative Sosnowski serves the 69th District which includes portions of Winnebago, Boone, and McHenry Counties.