Illinois State Representative Elaine Nekritz, D-Buffalo Grove, said the Future Energy Jobs Act is supposed to bring more jobs to the state while also cutting down on energy costs.
Negotiations in the law made Ameren’s efficiency goal lower than other energy providers. Ameren is supposed to reduce energy waste by 16 percent by 2030.
“The company recently filed a four-year energy-efficiency plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission that is far below — in fact, it’s 27 percent below — the energy-efficiency goal the utility is expected to meet under the new law,” Nekritz said. “That’s simply unacceptable.”
Ameren says it can’t be done, but others say Ameren already agreed to the goal. Now, the issue is tied up with the Illinois Commerce Commission. David Culotta, Executive Director of the Citizen’s Utility Board, said Ameren has to prove they can’t meet the standard, and that’s not likely to happen.
“When you look at Ameren’s filing, what it suggests is that they need to spend 44 percent more per kilowatt hour of energy saved than ComEd,” he said. “In a sense, they filed a bloated and inefficient plan saying that efficiency is more expensive than it actually is and therefore they can’t meet the targets.” The Commission Board is scheduled to make its decision this fall.
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