SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS (September 1, 2021) — The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is currently opposed to the existing comprehensive energy policy proposals pending before the General Assembly. We encourage the discussion to continue in an effort to find the right balance between the interests of rate-payers and those who produce energy.
Existing proposals continue to include language that need significant refining, but there are a number of provisions which the Chamber believes are extraordinarily troublesome. Those include:
- A second enormous subsidy for Exelon, not even five years after the last enormous subsidy. The Chamber applauds the Senate’s efforts to limit this new subsidy in the event a recently proposed federal subsidy for the nuclear industry is enacted, but further controls, audits, and claw-backs in the event these plants are profitable are critical.
- The premature closure of coal and natural-fired electricity-generating plants. Forcing the closure of these plants, without regard to the impact on electric reliability or those plants’ ability to utilize new control technologies, is irresponsible.
- With the costs of this omnibus energy package soaring, controlling the overall program costs by eliminating questionable new spending contained in a host of new programs is essential.
We appreciate the efforts of Senate President [Don] Harmon and other legislators that continue to address complex, technical issues that will have far-reaching effects on energy-affordability and reliability, jobs in existing and burgeoning industries across the State, and the impact to rate-payers across the State. These efforts have resulted in improvements on previous drafts that have been proposed by other interests. While the Chamber opposes this draft, we will continue to work together with a diverse set of stakeholders and recognize the work of all involved.
