Illinois – Today, the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass legislation to protect consumers and build more clean energy, just one day before energy bills are expected to spike across the state for at least the next year. The legislature’s inability to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act this spring comes at the expense of Illinois consumers, our power grid, and our climate. The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) released the following statement:
“The Illinois legislature had an opportunity to protect Illinois families from rising utility bills and strengthen our power grid with low-cost clean energy, but unfortunately, they opted instead for inaction. Illinois ratepayers are facing soaring energy bills due to regional grid operators’ poor planning, which has delayed the connection of cheaper clean energy to meet growing demand. Our grid challenges are only going to escalate as Illinois rushes to build energy-intensive data centers and President Trump and Congress roll back clean energy programs for the very resources consumers and our grid need most. Illinois ratepayers will continue to be exposed to capacity price spikes that benefit the companies who operate our expensive fossil fuel and nuclear power plants until the General Assembly passes the CRGA Act.
“While it’s profoundly disappointing that we weren’t able to pass the CRGA Act during this session, we are not done. We remain committed to passing necessary energy policy that puts ratepayers and climate first. We will spend the summer working with the House, Senate, Governor Pritzker, and stakeholders to address threats from the federal government to ensure our long-term energy plans are grounded in equity, consumer protection, and climate action.”
info@ilcleanjobs.org