Illinois

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This summary is part of Beyond the Beltway: A Report on State Energy and Climate Policies produced by the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at Berkeley Law

 

It went pretty much unheralded by the national media, but in December 2017 Illinois adopted a major new energy law — and with strong bipartisan support. Each side had some things to celebrate.

Governor Bruce Rauner, a Republican, touted the impact of the law on utility bills, claiming that it would cap average electricity price increases at 25 cents for the average home and 1.3% for commercial and industrial users, with rates projected to decrease in early years due to energy efficiency measures.[1] The Governor also expressed satisfaction that the bill would allow two nuclear plants to stay open by crediting them for their zero carbon emissions.

Environmentalists also saw much to celebrate. According to the Sierra Club, the new law will “open the door for more clean energy development across the state, create tens of thousands of jobs, and provide Illinois with a strong path forward in moving beyond dirty and expensive fossil fuels.”[2] The Environmental Defense Fund also praised the law, noting that it will require the state’s largest utilities to significantly increase energy efficiency by 2030.[3] It also improves Illinois’s renewable portfolio standard, directly leading to the development of – at a minimum – 3,000 MW of solar and 1,300 MW of wind power, or enough to power almost 1 million homes. In addition, the law creates a community solar program, allowing “those who can’t or don’t want to install solar panels on their roof – like home renters or apartment dwellers – to ‘subscribe’ to a solar project at a local church, school, or business.” Finally, the bill allocates $25 million per year for low-income home energy efficiency, solar deployment and job training.[4]

Bipartisanship seems to be an endangered species in Washington, D.C. But what happened in Illinois may give us hope that things could change in Washington.

 

  1.  “Governor Signs Legislation to Protect Jobs, Ratepayers and Taxpayers,” Illinois News (December 7, 2016), http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=3&RecNum=13923.
  2. “Sierra Club Statement on Illinois Energy Bill SB2814,” eNews Park Forest (December 2, 2016), http://enewspf.com/2016/12/02/sierra-club-statement-illinois-energy-bill-sb-2814/.
  3. Andrew Barbeau, “Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Bill Shows States are Taking the Lead to Build the Clean Energy Economy,” Environmental Defense Fund (December 7, 2016), http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2016/12/ 07/illinois-future-energy-jobs-bill-shows-states-are-taking-the-lead-to-build-the-clean-energy-economy/.
  4. Ibid.