Proponents say energy storage, efficiency programs will save money, critics wary of claims
SPRINGFIELD — Illinoisans could see a new line item on their electric bills under a bill passed Wednesday night by the Illinois House.
Under the proposal, contained in an amendment to Senate Bill 25, ratepayers will subsidize energy storage projects like large battery installations.
Environmental groups and the renewable energy industry often tout batteries as a way to make solar and wind power facilities more effective by storing energy for when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing.
The bill, which passed the House 70-37, has been in the works for more than a year. Much of the back-and-forth between lawmakers, business groups, environmentalists and organized labor centered on the balance between reliability and consumer costs.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
What the energy bill does
Lawmakers in the Senate and House held hearings throughout the day Wednesday, with affordability being among the top concerns. State officials — including the highest-ranking staffer at the state’s utility regulator — urged new policies to avoid an unstable grid.
“With the spike from data centers, with new manufacturing, we’re seeing rapid increases in demand. If we don’t meet the moment, we’re looking at blackouts,” Illinois Commerce Commission executive director Jonathan Feipel said during the Senate’s hearing on the bill.
Energy storage is the centerpiece of the bill, which would create incentive structures similar to current programs for renewable energy. This would create a new charge for ratepayers to offset costs for energy storage projects.
But proponents said that, in the long run, battery storage would save consumers money and increase grid reliability.
The Illinois Power Agency, which manages Illinois’ electricity market and oversees renewable energy procurement in the state, conducted an analysis of the bill. The agency found that while the programs in the proposal will increase customer bills slightly, those increases will be entirely offset by 2029.
The bill would also direct utilities to create “virtual power plants” that coordinate rooftop solar, home-based batteries, electric vehicles and other small, distributed energy generation.
The bill would also place new requirements on utilities for energy efficiency programs in an effort to reduce the overall demand — and price — of electricity. The bill requires utilities to offer “time-of-use” rate plans where consumers are charged more at certain times of day and less at others based on market price and grid strain.
Customers will see decreases in their bills due to the energy efficiency programs “after about six months,” bill sponsor Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, said in an interview. He said other cost reductions would come over the next several years, and that increases from the battery storage subsidy wouldn’t arrive until 2030.
Environmentalists and renewable advocates praised the bill for its cost-related provisions.
“This is really exciting for Illinois, and it’s something that’s going to address affordability as well,” Jen Walling, head of the Illinois Environmental Council said Wednesday. “For so long, we have thought of renewable energy as being more expensive and increasing consumer bills, but all of these steps and tools combined together are going to decrease bills.”
One facet of the bill that received broad, bipartisan support would lift a state-level ban on constructing new nuclear power plants.
The measure follows a move several years ago to lift the nuclear moratorium for small modular nuclear reactors, a type of next-generation design. But this allows for new large-scale nuclear plants.
Nuclear reactors have become central to debates around electricity demand from data centers. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, entered an agreement over the summer to pay for an existing nuclear reactor in Clinton, Illinois to stay open. Google has entered into agreements to revive shuttered reactors in other states.
But this provision also charges new fees for existing nuclear plant operators, which could be as high as $3.9 million fee per reactor. Most nuclear plants in Illinois have multiple reactors.
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