With consumers and the power grid facing unprecedented threats–including price spikes, surging demand sparked by data centers, and poor regional policy–legislative champions joined with consumer advocates on Tuesday to urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act (SB2473/HB3779).
CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz at Tuesday’s state capitol news conference. “The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act is urgently needed legislation that builds on CEJA and is good for our power grid and good for our power bills,” she says.
Please:
- Act now to protect our power bills and our power grid: Urge Springfield to support the CRGA Act.
- Watch the livestream of Tuesday’s Springfield news conference in which CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz and other supporters explain why the CRGA Act is needed.
Here’s the situation: Illinois’ power grid is struggling to keep pace with a surge in demand for energy, largely caused by data centers. Yet, at a time when clean, affordable energy is most needed, power grid operators in Illinois–Regional Transmission Organizations PJM Interconnection and and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)–are years behind schedule in connecting clean energy projects to the grid that could power millions of homes.
As a result, Illinois electric customers are increasingly threatened with poor grid reliability and unexpected price spikes–including one about to hit ComEd customers on June 1.
Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021, historic, nation-leading legislation that aims for 100 percent clean energy by 2050. But with these unprecedented threats, consumer and environmental advocates want to build on the progress of CEJA by passing the CRGA Act.
“Too often Illinois electricity customers face price spikes because of poor policy from power grid operators PJM and MISO,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. “The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) was a historic step toward 100 percent clean, affordable energy, but our work isn’t done. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act is urgently needed legislation that builds on CEJA and is good for our power grid and good for our power bills.”
The CRGA Act offers a comprehensive suite of commonsense solutions to meet the challenges facing our electric grid while prioritizing affordability for consumers. Among many provisions, the CRGA Act would:
- Strengthen energy efficiency by increasing the access to rebates to weatherize homes and purchase efficient appliances like HVAC systems and water heaters.
- Requires new large-scale data centers to cover their own grid interconnection costs and energy needs and bring in new clean energy. It also creates a process for regulators to set rules ensuring residential electric customers are not harmed by these energy-guzzling facilities.
- Strengthen the power grid by promoting improvements to transmission infrastructure, maximize the amount of clean electricity power lines can carry (through grid-enhancing technologies), and reduce bottlenecks in the process to develop and improve transmission lines.
- Expand clean, affordable energy by launching an Energy Storage Procurement Program, which directs the Illinois Power Agency to create a long-term energy storage procurement plan to meet future energy goals, and give more households, nonprofit groups and public facilities access to battery storage. (Battery storage is important because it can store solar and wind energy for use even during times when clean energy isn’t being produced.)
- Launch a “virtual power plant” initiative to pool thousands of small solar and storage projects to replace dirty, outdated, and expensive power plants.
- Create the Illinois Power Agency Office of Energy Modeling, which would strengthen energy policy-making, support the implementation of CEJA, and right-size Illinois’ clean energy procurement targets to meet the state’s energy needs.
- Create smart, optional “time of use” electric rates so that customers can take full advantage when electricity costs are low.
- Adopt uniform standards through the Solar Bill of Rights so that Illinoisans aren’t prohibited from installing rooftop solar under local rules.
Read the Canary Media article on the CRGA Act, and if you haven’t already, please urge Springfield to support the Act.
