{"id":47312,"date":"2016-12-06T17:55:06","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T23:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=47312"},"modified":"2016-12-06T17:55:06","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T23:55:06","slug":"whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the payout from Illinois new energy law?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang<\/strong><\/p>\n

The massive energy bill that passed in the last minutes of Illinois lawmakers\u2019 fall\u00a0schedule last week\u00a0has critics fuming about its bailout of Exelon\u2019s two money-losing nuclear plants.<\/p>\n

But supporters reply that the time for criticism has passed and it\u2019s time rather to maximize the benefits to the public.<\/p>\n

The Future Energy Jobs Bill with over 500 pages and 10 officially-filed amendments in it, requires electricity consumers statewide to finance hundreds of millions annually for two nukes and investments in clean energy as well as energy efficiency programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sure it feels rushed for the legislature,\u201d said Dawn Dannenbring, the lead organizer at Illinois People\u2019s Action<\/a> (IPA), a group that\u2019s also a member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if folks have been following the conversations that have been going on for months, with the exception of the amendments that were added toward the end, I don’t necessary think that it was rushed,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Why Did the Bill Pass?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the end, the bill became legislation because it promised enough to a broad array of groups. Although the bill’s nuclear bailout frustrates \u00a0 some environmentalists, consumer advocates, and certain businesses, it \u00a0contained \u00a0enough good things for consumers, especially to those in low-income communities, to win political support.<\/p>\n

There have been calls \u00a0for renovating the state’s energy legislation \u00a0because a lack of funding for the last five years has hampered how \u00a0the state\u2019s energy law has been carried out, said Lisa Albrecht, vice president at Illinois Solar Energy Association<\/a> and renewable energy specialist at Solar Service Inc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The negotiation has been underway this year ever since bills supported by either Clean Jobs Coalition, Exelon, the Chicago-based energy company, or its subsidiary ComEd have been presented to the General Assembly, said individuals close to the negotiations.<\/p>\n

By combining those bills, the Future Energy Jobs Bill gained bipartisan support that included almost all energy industry players.<\/p>\n

The final version of the bill, without subsidy to downstate coal plants or demand charges that measure ratepayers\u2019 electricity usage with peak hours instead of overall usage, was passed by both the state House and the Senate and will take effect in June, 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly felt the sense of urgency because the political climate that we are living in now,\u201d Dannenbring said. She is unsure how much attention will be paid to climate change and environmental justice issues, especially \u201cwhere people are living in polluted areas and need access to clean jobs and clean air in their communities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Who Benefits from the Bill?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the negotiations, IPA, Fair Economy Illinois<\/a> and others initiated the concept of \u00a0providing support to low-income and minority communities, \u00a0said Dannenbring. These communities are considered the most damaged places as a result of coal-fired plants\u2019 pollution, lacking \u00a0resources\u00a0to negate the damage,\u00a0she explained.<\/p>\n

In the 13-year life of the bill, $750 million in \u00a0investments will go to low-income programs, including solar, energy efficiency and job training in economically disadvantaged communities, according to the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition<\/a>. \u00a0There will also be training programs specifically for ex-offenders and former foster children, it said.<\/p>\n

For those communities, \u201cit\u2019s not just say \u2018is your family getting enough energy?\u2019,\u201d said Pastor Tony Pierce, an African-American community activist who participated in the negotiation process with IPA. People want energy sovereignty and all the positive implications of the bill that will bring to them, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis [the bill] is an opportunity to not only achieve environmental justice, but also an opportunity to achieve economic justice and racial justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

To be sure, in some Illinois communities, the economic and social disparities between different groups are quite dramatic.<\/p>\n

Taking the gap in social and economic measures between blacks and whites into account, four out of the 10 worst cities for blacks in the U.S. \u00a0are in Illinois, according to a 24\/7 Wall St. study<\/a>. Peoria in central Illinois, was ranked as the number one<\/a> worst city for blacks \u00a0this year, up from the sixth-place last year in the study.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the job creation spurred by the bill is expected to benefit \u00a0low-income and minority communities, industry observers said.<\/p>\n

Illinois\u2019 energy efficiency programs, begun in 2007, have led to more than 85,000 jobs statewide, and the goal of the current \u00a0bill is to build on the success, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition said.<\/p>\n

Among the new jobs, 2,000 are earmarked for ex-offenders and youth graduating out of the state’s foster care system – individuals whose jobs choices are often slim, Dannenbring said.<\/p>\n

Asked what excites the residents in those distressed communities the most, Pierce replied, \u201cit\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a member of a minority and distressed community that is at the bottom of a food chain,\u201d he said, \u201cyou are excited about the thought of a job. You are excited about the thought of being able to put food on the table for your family.\u00a0You are excited about the thought of not being locked out so you have to look at underground, illegal economic means of supporting yourself or your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lower Utility Bills?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will the cost of the nuclear bailout and investments in clean energy push up electricity rates dramatically?<\/p>\n

The answer might be too far away to see and involves too many uncertainties to estimate. But the Citizen Utility Board (CUB) is optimistic.<\/p>\n

It said that ComEd customers will see an average annual reduction of $15<\/a> on their utility bills because of energy efficiency programs. Overall, the energy efficiency provisions could lower electric bills by at least $4 billion through 2030, said CUB\u2019s communications director Jim Chilsen.<\/p>\n

Exelon and ComEd also agreed on rate caps<\/a> in the bill, ensuring that residential customers\u2019 rates will not go up more than 25 cents a month, and business users\u2019 rates are capped at an average of 1.3 percent compared to their 2015 rates.<\/p>\n

What’s Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A 10-year bailout, $235 million annually, for two nukes that are owned by a profitable company \u2013 Exelon, a Fortune 100 company that made more than $2 billion in profit last year \u2013 has caused disputes and worries that the bill might set a precedent for helping a specific business.<\/p>\n

Other opponents include the Illinois Manufacturers\u2019 Association, which argued that the electric rate increases would jeopardize Illinois competitive advantages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is the most difficult and challenging [part] for the supporters of the bill,\u201d Albrecht admitted as the bill is now nicknamed as a \u201cnuclear bailout.\u201d \u201cBut that’s where we were. I think the net positives are certainly going to be beneficial to Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought like crazy to kill what we could kill. We did not have enough power to affect the nuclear bailout,\u201d said Dannenbring, pointing to the efforts they put on eliminating the demand charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are working on now is to make sure that in six years or 10 years or whenever these nuclear power plants do retire, that there will be enough renewable energy that other false solutions like natural gas will not be introduced to tight us over until such a time as renewables can take over,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to visit Clinton, one of the endangered nuclear plant\u2019s locations, and sign the bill on Wednesday, according to the Clinton Chamber of Commerce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the new legislation begins to roll out and be implemented next June, more details and programs are expected to be released.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very eager to get going on the education program that has been carved out for low-income communities in particular. We will be educating everyone in Illinois just how important wind and solar is and how they can be part of this clean energy revolution,\u201d said Albrecht.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is against us,\u201d Dannenbring said, adding that the need to employ clean energy and use less energy through energy efficiency is urgent. \u201cHolding it up for politics and concerns about little things in a long run, I think are unimportant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a planet to save. We have a big job to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Photo illustration at top: (Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang The massive energy bill that passed in the last minutes of Illinois lawmakers\u2019 fall\u00a0schedule last week\u00a0has critics fuming about its bailout of Exelon\u2019s two money-losing nuclear plants. But supporters reply that the time for criticism has passed and it\u2019s time rather to maximize the benefits to the public. The Future Energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":309,"featured_media":47324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2941],"tags":[3467,3465,3462,3466,3463,3464],"class_list":["post-47312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2016","tag-citizens-utility-board","tag-future-energy-jobs-bill","tag-illinois-energy-policy","tag-illinois-peoples-action","tag-illinois-solar-energy-association","tag-solar-service-inc"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang The massive energy bill that passed in the last minutes of Illinois lawmakers\u2019 fall\u00a0schedule last week\u00a0has critics fuming about its bailout of Exelon\u2019s two money-losing nuclear plants. But supporters reply that the time for criticism has passed and it\u2019s time rather to maximize the benefits to the public. The Future Energy […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-06T23:55:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"648\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"yuningchuang2017\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"yuningchuang2017\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/\",\"name\":\"What's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-06T23:55:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/8a3ed86380798c3bf5e3d1bbbfc4eafb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":648,\"caption\":\"Supporters of the newly-passed energy bill on last Thursday are hoping the benefits of the bill will outweigh the cost for all electricity consumers in Illinois.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What’s the payout from Illinois new energy law?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/8a3ed86380798c3bf5e3d1bbbfc4eafb\",\"name\":\"yuningchuang2017\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b4d71933379113ddcc897e084f147e24d2b721ca4b89d7fb964d30ad2b394fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b4d71933379113ddcc897e084f147e24d2b721ca4b89d7fb964d30ad2b394fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"yuningchuang2017\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/yuningchuang2017\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang The massive energy bill that passed in the last minutes of Illinois lawmakers\u2019 fall\u00a0schedule last week\u00a0has critics fuming about its bailout of Exelon\u2019s two money-losing nuclear plants. But supporters reply that the time for criticism has passed and it\u2019s time rather to maximize the benefits to the public. The Future Energy […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-12-06T23:55:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":648,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"yuningchuang2017","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"yuningchuang2017","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/","name":"What's the payout from Illinois new energy law? - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-06T23:55:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/8a3ed86380798c3bf5e3d1bbbfc4eafb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/12\/1206Energy-consumption.jpg","width":1100,"height":648,"caption":"Supporters of the newly-passed energy bill on last Thursday are hoping the benefits of the bill will outweigh the cost for all electricity consumers in Illinois."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/whats-the-payout-from-illinois-new-energy-law\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What’s the payout from Illinois new energy law?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/8a3ed86380798c3bf5e3d1bbbfc4eafb","name":"yuningchuang2017","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b4d71933379113ddcc897e084f147e24d2b721ca4b89d7fb964d30ad2b394fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b4d71933379113ddcc897e084f147e24d2b721ca4b89d7fb964d30ad2b394fd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"yuningchuang2017"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/yuningchuang2017\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}