Today
at noon, Governor Blagojevich will sign the electricity rate bill, making Illinois a national
leader in standards for electricity created by renewable sources such as wind
power, biomass and solar power. The bill also
requires energy efficiency programs that will effectively stop the growth of
electric use in the state. Each of these two provisions is among the strongest
in the country, and together they will substantially reduce global warming
emissions from electricity generation in Illinois.
“Energy
efficiency not only provides electric bill relief for Illinois customers, but as the bill savings
compound, our environment gets cleaner and cleaner,” said Rebecca Stanfield,
director of Environment Illinois. “Combined with the state’s first renewable energy
standard, this bill represents a major step toward a smarter, cleaner energy
future.”
The
bill requires that a quarter of the power procured for Illinois customers will be generated from
clean, renewable energy by 2025. Illinois
becomes the 22nd state to have goals for energy efficiency,
according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Only two states, Maine and Minnesota,
have higher goals. The energy efficiency program ramps up to a target of
reducing the load by 2 percent a year by requiring utilities to provide customers with
assistance to reduce their energy needs through more efficient appliances,
weatherizing their homes and businesses and other measures.
The
Illinois Senate unanimously passed these renewable energy and efficiency
provisions earlier this session as the Affordable, Clean Energy Standards Act
(S.B. 1184), championed by State Senator Don Harmon (Oak Park).
“We
are very grateful to Senator Harmon for tirelessly working to advance the cause
of clean energy, and to Attorney General Madigan, Senate President Jones and
Speaker Madigan for supporting clean energy during the rate negotiations” said
Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.
“It’s long past time that we embraced our home-grown clean energy resources to
build a 21st century electric system for Illinois.”
The
energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions of the legislation would
lower the amount of traditional electricity generation necessary to meet
consumer load in Illinois
by about 24 percent, saving consumers roughly $2 billion dollars per year by 2020. The
renewable energy standard could reduce global warming emissions by as much as
15.8 million metric tons per year, while the efficiency standards would reduce
global warming emissions by as much as 37 million metric tons per year.
“While
a rebate on electricity rates is always nice, these programs will provide much
more significant and lasting benefits to consumers, while helping us meet curb
our contribution to the crisis of global warming,” said Alecia Ward, President
of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
“The
bill will also help to prioritize reducing peak power use, which is the most
expensive electricity,” said Anthony Star of the Community Energy
Cooperative. “This will have a big impact on consumers’ electric bills,”
he continued.
In
an era of increasing electric rates, energy efficiency is the only way to
reduce customers’ bills over the long term. Renewable energy resources will
also allow the utilities to lock in stable prices for the electricity purchased
from the sources.
“With
the promise of a market for their electricity, producers of renewable energy
can decide to expand with the confidence that their investments can pay off.
That leads to new and better renewable infrastructure here in Illinois,
and that’s a great benefit for our state,” said Barry Matchett of the
Environmental Law and Policy
Center.
However,
the state’s leading environmental organizations also expressed concern that the
bill allows the State of Illinois
to build a new coal fired power plant that will create new global warming
emissions. The power plant would not be required to use technology to capture
and store carbon dioxide emissions, posing the threat that this plant could
offset the environmental benefits of the renewable energy and energy efficiency
measures.
“In
this day and age, to build a new coal plant without dealing with the carbon
dioxide emission would be an almost unimaginable step backward,” said Goldman.
“We are going to work to make sure that the state does make such a foolish
decision as to move forward with the escape clause that this provision allows.”
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