Mussman Advances Green Energy Bill

DuPage Policy Journal Continuing her efforts to combat the effects of climate change and create economic opportunities in Illinois, state Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, helped pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) out of the House Energy & Environment Committee this week. “Illinois has been a leader in increasing renewable energy and protecting the environment,”…

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3 energy bills pass committee in Springfield Legislation aims to cut carbon emissions, create clean energy jobs, reform capacity markets

By Jerry Nowicki | Benton News SPRINGFIELD — The state’s various energy industries all had their say at a pair of House committee hearings Tuesday in which three widely discussed energy bills advanced with their sponsors promising further negotiations. By the end of the spring legislative session, all three bills — Democratic Elwood Rep. Larry…

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Rockford and state politicians tout green energy bill

Chris Green | Rockford Register Star ROCKFORD — Replacing 1 million gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles on the road with electric vehicles and other alternatives, creating thousands of green energy jobs and achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Those are among the goals of the Clean Energy Jobs Act (House Bill 3624/Senate Bill 2132), a…

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Legislators, Community Leaders, Businesses Show Support for Transformational Clean Energy Legislation

Clean Energy Jobs Act would bring new jobs, especially to communities of color and rural counties throughout Illinois SPRINGFIELD, IL — Illinois lawmakers joined the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition today to press for bold clean energy legislation. The coalition of environmental, environmental justice, healthcare, consumer, business and faith leaders held a series of news conferences…

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Bill wants Illinois to go all-in on green energy

Mitch Dudek | Chicago Sun-Times A bill seeking to move Illinois to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 was introduced in Springfield on Thursday. Renewable energy only accounts for about 4 percent of electricity in Illinois, according to a spokesman for the the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, the nonprofit group that drafted the legislation. Nuclear,…

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Solar seen as bright career path at Illinois community colleges

Lauren Robinson | Energy News Network Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act included funding to make solar training more accessible to lower-income residents. There was an energy about the 11 students gathered on a sunny December Saturday outside a South Side Chicago construction shop. Today, they’d put on their work gloves and protective glasses and put…

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More than 3,500 solar panels being installed at the city’s water reclamation center to generate power for Naperville

<b>Erin Hegarty | Chicago Tribune</b> Installation of more than 3,500 solar panels that could generate more than 1.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually is expected to begin this summer at Naperville’s Springbrook Water Reclamation Center. When completed, the six acres of high-efficiency solar panels will produce enough energy to power 145 homes a year,…

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Programs Train Workers To Meet Demand For Solar Installers

Ryan Denham | WGLT, NPR After the training, the 31-year-old received four jobs offers and moved to Colorado, where he installs solar panels on homes. “It was definitely a big move. But it did pan out well,” Laughlin said. Laughlin is one of thousands of workers who’ve benefited from a solar energy boom in the…

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Community Solar for IL’s Environmental Justice Communities

Samuel Garcia | NRDC Expert Blog The Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) mandates that at least 25 percent of the Illinois Solar for All Program’s incentives be allocated to projects located within environmental justice communities. On January 17, Elevate Energy and the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) held a stakeholder engagement session to address how the program will…

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