Officials hope to pass energy package this spring
By ANDREW ADAMS
Capitol News Illinois
aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com
Illinois faces potential energy shortfalls and all-but-guaranteed price spikes for northern Illinois this summer, consumer and environmental advocates say.
Lawmakers and advocates in Springfield have proposed bills that they say would address their concerns — but it’s unclear whether they’re likely to pass by the General Assembly’s expected May 31 adjournment.
Rising electricity demand from data centers has put pressure on the grid at the same time the federally regulated grid operators face a backlog in approving renewable energy projects. This has created concerns there won’t be enough energy-generating resources like power plants and solar panel installations in the coming years.
Read more: State official: renewable investments ‘best thing’ to lower energy costs
On Tuesday, environmentalists made their pitch for how to bolster the state’s grid and implement new consumer protections. The plan comes from the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, a group of consumer and environmental advocates that has backed several major energy bills, including the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. That law set Illinois’ goal to shut down all power plants using fossil fuels by 2050.
The ICJC proposal, contained in twin House and Senate bills, offers several provisions aimed at stabilizing volatile electricity prices and increasing grid reliability. It’s a broader proposal than when the group announced an early version in its platform last spring.
The bill would bump up the energy efficiency targets for the state’s major utility companies, increase their minimum spending on low-income efficiency programs and create “time of use” electric rates that offer electric customers lower rates at times of day with lower demand and higher rates at times of high demand.
Ameren Illinois, the utility for downstate, would have its energy efficiency targets increased more to match the already higher targets for ComEd, according to Kari Ross, Natural Resource Defense Counsel energy affordability advocate.
A utility official raised concerns about the financial impact of that proposal.
“It is essential that the financing costs of running energy efficiency programs is fully considered and Ameren Illinois’ ability to fund reliability improvements at reasonable interest rates is not put at risk,” Ameren spokesman Tucker Kennedy said in a statement to Capitol News Illinois.
These elements were discussed — although ultimately abandoned — in negotiations around a package of energy legislation passed earlier this year. That bill was signed into law on Feb. 19.
Read more: Worried about grid reliability, state officials seek to boost renewables, energy storage | Lawmakers give small boost to renewable developments, delay broader reform
The bill would also put new requirements on electric utilities and data center operators. Data centers — large facilities housing hundreds or thousands of computers that are constantly running — draw massive amounts of electricity and have been blamed for rising electric demand.
Gov. JB Pritzker has made promoting high-tech industries, including data centers, a major plank in his economic development platform in recent years. During his time in office, dozens of data centers have opened in Illinois.
Under the proposal, utilities would need to adopt rules requiring data center operators to cover the costs associated with their increased demand. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency also would be directed to institute environmental standards for the growing industry.
“It's no secret that these vast energy hungry facilities are coming to our neighborhoods, and while they promise progress, economic benefits and technological advancements, they also pose risks to the electric grid and place a huge pollution burden on neighborhoods that are already surrounded by toxic industry,” Gina Ramirez, a representative of the Southeast Environmental Task Force, said Tuesday.
Read more: Pritzker touts Illinois’ economic development at data center groundbreaking
The lead sponsor of the bill said it’s being considered by a working group made up of members of the House and Senate alongside advocates.
“We have learned a lot in the last few years because we worked on these comprehensive energy bills in a similar format to when we started on CEJA, so we're getting good at it,” Rep. Anne Williams, D-Chicago, said. “We have a bicameral group. We have the governor's office very heavily involved in the discussions. I think we're to the point that we agree about the problem. We agree about the topics that we need to focus on moving forward.”
She and other advocates say this is an issue they intend to address this spring.
Industry groups back battery storage
Last week, lawmakers introduced a different proposal that would incentivize the development of energy storage.
Proponents say the nascent technology can store energy generated by solar and wind energy at times of low demand so it can be used later at times of high demand, even if the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
The proposal would empower the Illinois Power Agency, which manages electricity procurement and planning, to begin procuring electricity from energy storage facilities. The agency would also be required to develop a “storage procurement plan” in a somewhat similar fashion to its renewable energy plan.
It also lays out requirements for utilities to develop a plan to use “virtual power plants.” That’s a term for a system of resources like rooftop solar or house-scale batteries to be used to put energy into the grid.
“Illinois energy demands will outpace our supply as early as 2030,” bill sponsor Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said last week. “Battery storage is needed to reduce that probability and the expense. Illinois residents are already experiencing the consequences of energy shortfalls.”
Cunningham noted that “by the middle of the year,” customers in northern Illinois will see a $10 to $30 increase in monthly bills.
Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, is sponsoring a House version with support from Rep. Barbera Hernandez, an Aurora Democrat who introduced a previous iteration of the proposal last year.
The bill is backed by at least six clean energy industry groups, including the Solar Energy Industries Association and American Clean Power — two powerhouse national lobbying organizations.
“Energy demand in Illinois is rising fast, and solar and storage are the fastest technologies to develop and deploy,” Andrew Linhares, SEIA’s senior manager for the central region, said in a statement. “Investing in energy storage will not only strengthen the power grid, it will strengthen the state economy through good jobs, private investment, and reduced consumer costs.”
Battery storage has been a fiercely debated topic in Springfield in recent months. The ICJC proposal also contains an initial procurement round for energy storage at the Illinois Power Agency and requirements for a virtual power plant program.
Both the ICJC reform package and the industry-backed battery storage bill await hearings in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee before it can be considered by the full Senate. The House versions of the bills have not been assigned to committee.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
