UPDATES

By Kay Day In a single hour, the amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth is more than the entire world consumes in a year! Wow, isn’t that statistic amazing? Yet solar power only makes up about 8% of the renewable energy consumed in 2018. That is about to change across the…

Letter to the Editor by Don Dieckmann When the Dynegy-Vistra power plant in Wood River abruptly closed its doors in 2016, I anticipated the hardships Alton area communities would face as a result. I knew the plant’s closure would mean a loss of jobs, a drop in economic activity, and a struggle to address a…

by WICS/WRSP Staff Click here if the video fails to load. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Springfield residents gathered to talk about saving money on energy costs and clean energy legislation. It was lead by the Faith Coalition for the Common Good. The meeting featured a discussion program to help people save money on energy and…

By Rebecca Brumfield PEORIA, Ill. — ICC Solar Pipeline Training graduates are back home in Peoria putting their learned skills to work. These students first learned technical skills through the Tri-County Urban League. Sunpeak, a solar company out of Madison, Wisconsin, hired three Peoria grads who are working on the installation. A local graduate says…

“Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers need to roll up their sleeves and put Illinois on a path toward cleaner energy before it’s too late. … As the Trump administration tries to push the nation toward a greater reliance on climate-damaging coal-fired power plants, Illinois must move ahead on its own energy legislation to move…

By Andrew Barbeau and Christie Hicks Illinois has once again put itself at the forefront of the movement to promote a clean energy economy. Earlier this year, legislators including Sen. David Koehler, unveiled the Clean Energy Jobs Act (“Local advocates cheer state clean energy legislation,” Journal Star, Feb. 28), or CEJA, a groundbreaking bill that…

By Kelly Pickerel The Fox Valley area in Aurora, Illinois, will soon be home to multiple solar projects totaling more than 7.2 MW. The projects, funded through the Adjustable Block Program under the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), will be organized by Progressive Business Solutions, a local company. The solar portfolio should be online by…

By Kevin Schwaller SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -– The Illinois House of Representatives and Senate have voted to pass a bill to allow public universities and state agencies to enter into renewable energy contracts for up to 25 years. The House on Tuesday passed a bill by a 108-8 vote to allow public universities and state agencies…

By Tom Emery CARLINVILLE – Optimism for the future abounds this week after Blackburn College broke ground on a state-of-the-art solar project. The $3 million, 2-megawatt solar array — which will be constructed on 8 acres of the northern part of the Blackburn campus — is expected to provide more than 80% of the school’s…