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Private Utilities

Illinois-American Water

Customer Service Center:
(800) 422-2782 (24 hours)

Alice Johnson, local customer advocate:
(630) 739-8855

Email:
ILAW.CustomerComments@amwater.com

Kevin Hillen, Network Operations Manager:
(630) 739-8959

Well and Septic Service

For general information about septic and mechanical systems:

Will County Health Department

(630) 679-7030

Media Release:
Joint Action Water Agency Meeting

October 5, 2011
For Information:
Jim Boan, Bolingbrook Village Attorney
(630) 226-8416

This morning the five communities involved in the Water Agency Exploration Group met at Romeoville Village Hall. Present were the five mayors: Mayor John Noak of Romeoville; Mayor Jim Daley of Homer Glen; Mayor William Murphy of Woodridge; Mayor Brian Reaves of Lemont; and Mayor Roger Claar of Bolingbrook. Also present were staff members from each community.

A lengthy discussion was held regarding the legislative process this past spring resulting in the Governor signing SB83 into law on August 26, 2011 (P.A. 097-0586), the passage of which gives the Water Agency Group various options to explore in an effort to provide reasonable/stable water rates to our residents.

It was agreed that an attempt will be made to meet with Illinois American/American Lake Water to discuss the concerns of the residents from all five communities. The meeting date has not been selected, but, it is expected to be held in the next several weeks.

It was agreed that the Feasibility Study to proceed with the Water Agency needs to be updated given the economic changes that have taken place across the country and specifically in this area and updated feasibility study is crucial to having accurate data in order to proceed. It was further agreed that a proposed intergovernmental agreement between the communities be reviewed and it will be discussed at our next meeting. A draft ordinance and draft by-laws for the Water Agency were distributed for review.

Print media release...

Senate Bill 83 Grants Joint Action Water Agency Power to Acquire Bedford Park Water Transmission Pipeline

Media Release, Homer Glen, August 29, 2011   (Print)

On Friday, August 26th, Governor Quinn signed Senate Bill 83, which asserts that a water system owned by a private utility providing water to customers located in two or more municipalities may be acquired by a majority (instead of "either or all") of the municipalities it serves by eminent domain, and if the system is to be acquired by more than one municipality, then there must be an intergovernmental agreement.

Homer Glen, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Woodridge, and Lemont, members of the Joint Action Water Agency (JAWA) now have the legal ability to move forward in their bid to acquire American Lake Water’s (a subsidiary of Illinois American Water) Bedford Park water transmission pipeline. “I want to thank Governor Quinn for signing this bill into law,” stated Jim Daley, Mayor. Homer Glen will finally have the ability to control our destiny by keeping water rates affordable for residents,” the Mayor continued.

Homer Glen and the four other municipalities will be meeting shortly to discuss a strategy for acquiring the Bedford Park water transmission pipeline from Illinois American Water. “I am confident that JAWA will work diligently to find an agreeable solution for our residents,” continued Mayor Daley. “I look forward to the day when our water rates no longer cost a family a minor fortune to provide a basic necessity,” he concluded.

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For more information, contact Development Services Director Michael Salamowicz at (708)301-0632

Frequently Asked Questions

Printable FAQs (pdf) - Updated September 9, 2009

Q. Who sets the water and sewer rates?

A.  The water and sewer rates are set by the Illinois Commerce Commission based upon rate increase requests made by Illinois American Water Company.

Q. What is unaccounted for water and what role does it play in our rates?

A.  Unaccounted for water is the difference between the amount of water that is metered coming into Homer Glen and the sum of the total amount of water measured and billed by each individual meter in the village. There will always be some unaccounted for water due to fire hydrant use, normal system leakage, and un-metered water use at new construction sites.

Q. What are all the charges on the water bill?

A.  The Water and Sewer Bill contains six distinct and identified charges. These are:

Q. Does the Village of Homer Glen play any role in the determination of water and sewer rates?

A.  No. The Village has no authority under Illinois law to establish water and sewer rates. The role of the Task Force commissioned by the Village has been to investigate the rates and help determine what steps, if any, can be taken to reduce or control these costs.

Q. Does the Village of Homer Glen receive any monies from Illinois American from the water and sewer bills?

A.  No. There is no franchise fee or local tax associated with the water and sewer service.

Q. How many customers does Illinois American serve in Homer Glen?

A.  Illinois American currently serves about 6,000 homes in Homer Glen, or about 79% of the community.

Q. What is the Village doing about the high cost of water?

A.  The Village has questioned and taken legal action to stop IAW rate increases since its incorporation in 2001. The Village as worked with Representative Renee Kosel and Senator Christine Radogno in seeing legislation adopted that holds public water utilities more accountable for their service, practices and billing methods, and successful in petitioning the ICC to cap unaccounted for water, require annual fire hydrant inspections, stop illegal back billing practices. The Village has also intervened in the 2006 and 2008 rate cases. The Village will be joining with the Attorney General and other communities to intervene in the most recent proposal of a 29.72% increase in water and 50.96% in sewer rates.

In addition to being advocates for fair and reasonable rates, the Village continues to investigate the possibility of acquiring the utility. Mayor Jim Daley recently reported to the Board of a meeting held with adjacent communities that also receive IAW services through the Bedford Transmission Line. The group met in Homer Glen late last month to review confidential documents presented by their accounting and engineering consultants that have analyzed information provided by IAW for purposes of appraising the system. In addition to the group working together on the joint purchase of the transmission system, the communities are also investigating the acquisition of their individual distribution systems.

Q. What actions can I take to register my complaint about water rates or service with the Illinois Commerce Commission?

A.  You can log into the Comment on a Case page of the ICC website:

Q. I've complained to the Village, IAW, and ICC. What good is this doing?

A.  Your actions have demonstrated that this issue is not an isolated circumstance. Consequently, being proactive has gotten the attention of the ICC commissioners, our state legislators and IAW.

Contact Information:

About Illinois American Water Rate Increases

When Homer Glen was incorporated in 2001, several issues concerning the provision of sewer and water were apparent. Due to increasingly high water rates, reports of poor customer service, and communication barriers with IAW, in 2004 the Village Board convened a task force to conduct a study. The task force identified several issues of concern. Homer Glen had the 2nd highest water rate in Illinois, customers were back-billed longer than provided by law, very high unaccounted for water rates, inefficient metering system and no record of fire hydrant inspections. This last presented serious life/safety issue and concerns.

Consequently, in 2006 the Village joined the Attorney General to resolve and prohibit these practices. The Village was successful and IAW was directed to, among other rulings, adhere to ICC rules regarding back billing customers and inspect all fire hydrants. The Village worked closely with Representative Renee Kosel who sponsored two bills providing protections for consumers of private water utilities. The task force recommendations included further resource commitment into the feasibility of a municipal owned and run system.

Since 2007, Mayor Daley and the Village Board have taken a number of steps to study the feasibility of owning the water and sewer system.  The Village also joined with the Villages of Bolingbrook, Woodridge, and Plainfield to assess the feasibility of acquiring the transmission system for Lake Michigan water and recently voted to fund further study of the Bedford Transmission system. This is a complex and involved process.  It is critical the Board has the facts and a full understanding of the processes in order to make an informed and sound financial decision.

Concurrently, the Village intervened in the request for a general rate increase by IAW and also in the most recent IAW filing for an additional increase in water rates for ‘reconciliation’ to recapture lost or unaccounted for water. To give residents an opportunity to provide input, the Village filed a request with the ICC to hold a local public forum for residents in the upcoming Reconciliation Rate increase.  This forum will be held on July 17, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hadley School Auditorium, 15731 S. Bell Road, Homer Glen, and pertains to IAW’s application for a reconciliation of purchased water surcharges, (ICC Docket 08-0218).  All testimony will be submitted as part of the Village’s intervention in the case.