a proposed statewide freeze in electricity rates. The campaign uses a commonly used corporate tactic referred to as astroturfing, in which corporations fund organizations that appears to be grassroots or consumer rights focused to lobby on the corporation's behalf with politicians and the public. Illinois then Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn attempted to force CORE to put ComEd's name on the ads in a petition filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission. The Commission ultimately dismissed the petition, but not before CORE agreed to disclose ComEd's support of it more clearly. Ultimately, the General Assembly did not freeze rates, and ComEd's new rate plan went into effect on January 2, 2007. However, subsequent concerns about the impartiality of the reverse auction process have resulted in the establishment of the Illinois Power Agency, which will ultimately be responsible for producing and purchasing the energy for Illinois utilities. As part of the compromise plan to avoid a rate freeze, ComEd devised a means by which a customer might defer payment of the 22% increase, subject to interest of over 3% on the unpaid portion of the increase. In September 2011, ComEd named the first woman to the CEO post, Anne Pramaggiore. When she was promoted within Exelon, ComEd's parent company, Joe Dominguez was named CEO and COO Terence Donnelly was named president while retaining the title COO. Corruption scandal On July 17, 2020, ComEd agreed to pay $200 million following what had been a several-year federal investigation of suspected illegal lobbying, political graft and sweetheart contract deals which were made in exchange for the company having a near-monopoly on regional power utility. On September 4, 2020, former ComEd Vice-President Fidel Marquez became the first ComEd executive to be criminally charged for his involvement in the scandal. Smart Grid In 2016, ComEd made an investment worth $2.6 billion in what is known as their "Smart Grid." The plan will modernize the electric grid in Illinois by improving electric lines, installing smart meters and otherwise upgrading what the company says was badly outdated infrastructure. The intent of the Smart Grid plan is to make the Illinois electric grid stronger and more modern, and to eliminate the need for meter readers. Smart grid technology is similar to smartphone technology in that it uses wireless connectivity to update information about power consumption and other events. ComEd lobbyists wrote the law as mandatory Wireless Smart Meter installations to all