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CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 31, 2022 | $3.50
Peoples Gas’ pipe-palooza costs keep rising Chicago’s natural gas utility still insists the multidecade, customer-funded project will cost $8 billion
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BY STEVE DANIELS Peoples Gas appears all but certain to exceed its latest cost estimate and timeline for a massive overhaul of Chicago’s underground natural gas pipes, a project that’s already billions over budget and years behind schedule. Underway for more than a decade, the project has seen its ultimate projected cost mushroom to $8 billion from $2 billion initially and then $4.5 billion. Based on progress and costs to date, Peoples will shell out nearly $11 billion to
complete the job, not $8 billion. Peoples will pass that cost along to customers in their bills, plus a profit. Additionally, the utility won’t finish the work until about 2048 at its present pace, well beyond the 2040 goal Peoples still assures regulators it will meet. That’s 10 years past the original 2030 completion target. Peoples has yet to hit its annual pipe replacement target for any year since its 2015 acquisition by Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group. See PEOPLES on Page 36
A year in, Dave Kimbell puts his stamp on Ulta As the company’s snapback from pandemic restrictions slows, its new CEO rolls out multiple growth tactics snapped back from its worst slump ever. A run of six straight 20%-plus When Dave Kimbell quarterly sales increassucceeded Mary Dillon as es since early 2021 have CEO of Ulta Beauty a year lifted revenues past ago, he faced the potenpre-pandemic levels. tially daunting prospects “This has been the of following a Wall Street best year of my career favorite and crafting a Dave Kimbell by far,” Kimbell says. “So growth strategy for uncermany factors came together for tain times. Still, the timing was good. us to have a strong year.” But as the increases slow, KimCOVID-19 restrictions that smothered retailing during 2020 were bell’s longer-term challenges are largely gone, and the Bolingbrook-based cosmetics chain See ULTA on Page 38
BY ALLY MAROTTI
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