Supporters of a major clean energy bill that fell short in the final days of Illinois’ legislative session are licking their wounds and trying to figure out what went wrong — and what comes next.
Solar and battery companies, clean energy groups, and consumer advocates just months ago had high hopes for the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which would have created a bonanza of state incentives for energy storage and other grid investments, building on the success of 2017 and 2021 laws that have made the state a clean energy leader.
The legislation failed to pass as the legislature wrapped up at the end of May.
“There were some pretty significant wrenches” thrown in the works in the final days of negotiations, said Hannah Flath, spokesperson for the Illinois Environmental Council, an advocacy group. “Some things we just couldn’t untangle.”
The bill would have made Illinois one of a number of states offering subsidies for battery storage on the grid, with the goal of spurring 6 gigawatts of storage by 2030. Solar industry leaders enthusiastically backed the bill, seeing it as a way to build on the solar boom sparked by the two previous state laws, by facilitating solar-plus-storage projects.
Solar and batteries may also be the nation’s best bet to quickly meet growing electricity demand, as equipment backlogs slow down plans to build gas-fueled power plants. “The only resource that we believe can [be deployed] in a time frame of a few years is energy storage,” said Andrew Linhares, the Solar Energy Industries Association senior manager for the Central U.S. “And of course, pairing it with solar is by far the cheapest new generation you can bring online.”
What would more batteries mean for customers’ wallets?
Cost concerns appeared to be the main reason that some powerful groups opposed the bill and that legislators didn’t embrace it. Utility customers would have picked up the tab for incentives paid to storage developers, which spooked some large industrial consumers and the labor unions representing their workers, according to people involved in the bill negotiations.
Groups that filed witness slips to the legislature in opposition of the bill include the American Petroleum Institute-Illinois, a labor union representing electrical workers in Southern Illinois, the Illinois Farm Bureau, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a chemical industry group, and an Illinois manufacturers’ trade group.
But investing in battery storage should actually lower energy bills, according to bill proponents, since it could be cheaper for utilities to develop storage than to supplement their power supply with pricey energy from regional markets.
Now proponents wonder whether expected energy-price spikes this summer could ironically persuade lawmakers to revisit the storage plan. Prices are expected to rise in coming months because the grid operators that cover Illinois recently reported high capacity costs to ensure that the grid has enough power-generating capacity if demand suddenly spikes. In the Chicago area, that’s expected to raise customers’ power bills by an average of over $10 a month.
An analysis by the Illinois Power Agency, which procures power on behalf of ComEd and Ameren, found that customers would pay less for electricity under the legislation. By 2035, the average Ameren residential customer could see bills drop by up to $20 a month, and the average ComEd residential customer could see monthly bills drop by up to $8.50.
“All the cost estimates were how much this [bill] would help lower costs. That is the big tragedy here,” said MeLena Hessel, Midwest deputy program director for the national clean-energy advocacy organization Vote Solar. “This bill would have saved people money. It would have immediately enabled us to deploy renewables and storage and energy efficiency too, which are the fastest, cheapest ways to address the rising capacity costs.”
Legislators aren’t scheduled to meet again until a short veto session in the late fall, but Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, could reconvene the legislature sooner. The 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which created expansive solar incentives and equity provisions, was passed in such a summer special session.
“The consensus language around energy storage and solar is a response to this crisis, and we have broad buy-in from lawmakers. We’re pretty confident at the end of the day this will happen,” said Linhares. “We just need everybody to be pulling in the same direction. We’re eagerly awaiting an announcement about when this might be taken up, whether in the veto session or special session, and we’ll be ready when that announcement comes.”
The hurdles facing Illinois’ most recent clean energy bill
Illinois’s two previous big energy laws — the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021 and the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2017 — were passed after clean-energy developers and advocates squared off with fossil-fuel companies and utilities. In both cases, incentives for nuclear energy provided the political push over the finish line.
This time around, there is no incentive for nuclear on the table; nor is the industry seeking one since increased electricity demand — including from data centers — has boosted the fortunes of the state’s once-financially-ailing nuclear plants.
