South Central Reporter

In a July 25 news release, Sen. Terri Bryant confirmed her co-sponsorship of a trio of bills to decrease Illinois 'residents' energy bills. The first of the three bills in the package is SB 4215. 

The bill would repeal the forced 2045 closure date for coal and natural gas power plants put into place by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act of 2021. It would permit companies to build new gas peaker plants. The bill lays out the reason that various permits would not be required but makes clear that power plant owners are not relieved of their obligation to follow and comply with other regulations.

“Illinois is both one of the top energy producing and energy consuming states in the nation," Bryant said on July 25. "We have to make sure that the energy production and grid capacity are able to keep up with our of energy consumption. If we don’t, we face the possibility of even more utility rate increases and an even higher risk for rolling blackouts throughout much of the state.”

Senate Bill 4216 focuses on how fees would be utilized. It looks at how to repurpose $10 million from those fees to pay for clean technology for retrofitting coal and natural gas plants with carbon capturing technology. It also includes the creation of a new Power Grid Task Force to study the effect of state laws, including CEJA, on energy prices as well as grid reliability.

The task force would further study means to improve the power supply mix within the state and deployment of new technologies. Senate Bill 4217 decreases red tape from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that stops new power plants from coming online in a timely manner and will speed up the state permitting process.