2025 Legislative Report
IEC’s state legislative team has published our 2024 Legislative Report detailing environmental wins and setbacks during this year’s legislative session.
2025 Legislative Report Read More »
clean energy
Shine On: Illinois Hopes to Continue Solar Boom Despite Federal Headwinds
Renewable energy advocates point to a 2021 law and state dollars as reasons for optimism in a challenging time. Illinois Shines, the state’s incentive program for on-site and community solar, is funded through a dedicated line item on ratepayer electric bills, noted Samira Hanessian, director of energy policy for the Illinois Environmental Council, an umbrella
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Illinois legislators skip on several environmental bills
Some big environmental bills — dealing with transit, clean energy, plastics and more — fizzled last week in Springfield. Advocates say they’re ready to pick up the pieces. Why it matters: State environmental protections have grown in importance for climate advocates as the Trump administration rolls back regulations at the federal level. Biggest losses Public transit: The General Assembly’s failure
Illinois legislators skip on several environmental bills Read More »
Wrapping Up the 2025 Illinois Legislative Session
Our team has been on the ground at the Capitol for the last five months, all the way up until the final moments this evening. And you’ve been right there with us.
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Illinois’ Climate Goals and Consumers At Risk Amidst Legislature’s Inaction
Illinois General Assembly misses opportunity to deliver cleaner, lower-cost, more reliable energy amidst rising costs, increasingly extreme weather, and federal mismanagement. ILLINOIS — Today, just one day before energy bills are expected to spike across Illinois, the General Assembly failed to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act, which would have taken critical
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Illinois’ Environmental Organizations Admonish U.S. House Republican Budget as Extreme, Expensive, and Anti-Environment
Rep. LaHood receives backlash for voting to strip constituents of major local investments ILLINOIS — Today, U.S. House Republicans passed the most anti-environment budget reconciliation bill in history, gutting federal environmental protections and consumer cost-saving measures that protect working families, create good-paying clean energy jobs, and safeguard our climate. The bill now heads to the
‘Bring Your Own New Clean Energy’: a proposed fix for Illinois’ power grid shortcomings draws criticism from manufacturers
Illinois has a growing energy problem. There are a few reasons for why that is — coal and natural gas plants are closing, and regional grid operators are acting too slowly in connecting new wind and solar projects to the larger grid, but above all else, the state is using more energy than it ever
Summer electric price spike fuels policy tensions in Springfield
Price hike due to lack of energy supply comes alongside rocky transition to renewable power. Customers around Illinois will see significantly higher prices on their electric bills next month. “We’re trying to keep prices low while combating climate change,” Jen Walling, head of the Illinois Environmental Council, told Capitol News Illinois. The IEC has been
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As U.S. House Republicans Pass the Most Expensive Anti-Environment Bill in History, Illinoisans Call for State Action on Climate and Consumer Protections
ILLINOIS – Early Thursday morning, House Republicans passed a reconciliation bill that wipes out good-paying clean energy jobs and raises energy costs for families by gutting the historic progress made in the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act. Hours earlier at the Illinois State Capitol on Wednesday, hundreds of community leaders, environmental advocates, faith leaders, business representatives, consumer
A Sprint to Accelerate Illinois’ Clean Energy Progress
With two full weeks of the legislative session left before the May 31 deadline, IEC is working overtime to ensure our priorities cross the finish line.
A Sprint to Accelerate Illinois’ Clean Energy Progress Read More »
Opinion: An urgent, united call to save — and strengthen — public transit
Public transit is the backbone of our economy, connecting millions of commuters, tourists and visitors to work, our world-class museums and arts institutions, school, health care and more every single day. Yet, across the country, cities are facing multimillion-dollar transit budget shortfalls — or a “transit fiscal cliff.” Chicago is no different. We’re at a
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In Illinois, an invisible boundary determines how dirty and costly your electricity is
The town of Ottawa lies in central Illinois 12 miles from a nuclear power plant and a wind turbine farm that stretches past the horizon. However, these facilities sit on the other side of an invisible boundary between two regional power grids. By mutual agreement among utilities that own the grids and power plants, that
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Illinois Has Your Back, Mother Earth
We can’t count on Washington to do right for the environment. Good thing Illinois’ environmental movement is on top of it.
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Conservation Advocacy in Illinois
We’re midway through the legislative session. Our team has been hard at work this week rounding up roll call votes for many of the bills we’ve been tracking.
Conservation Advocacy in Illinois Read More »
Powering Progress: Richland Community College Now Training Up Illinois’ Clean Energy Workforce
CEJA Workforce Hub Celebrates 100% Enrollment Across Training Programs DECATUR, IL—Today, Richland Community College (RCC) and the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) hosted “Powering Progress: Richland Community College’s Clean Energy Careers in Action” at its Decatur campus. The event highlighted RCC’s Clean Energy Careers program, which provides training and certification for entry-level positions in solar, HVAC,
Tackling Plastic Pollution in Illinois
Our legislative team at IEC has been working hard to ensure our bill sponsors have the tools and public support to advance our agenda this session.
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Legislative Champions, Consumer and Environmental Advocates Urge Passage of Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act
(SPRINGFIELD, IL)—Today, legislative champions joined consumer and environmental advocates to urge the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB2473/HB3779) amidst surging energy demand sparked by data centers and unprecedented threats to consumers, our grid, and our climate. “Three years ago, Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which
After groundbreaking bills on jobs and solar, Illinois tackles the grid
State lawmakers are pushing for more grid-enhancing tech, gigawatts of new energy storage, and the creation of a virtual power plant program.Since 2017, sweeping legislation in Illinois has sparked a solar power boom and launched ambitious energy equity and green jobs programs. Now, for the third time in under a decade, state lawmakers, advocates, and industry groups have their sights set
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Illinois’ 2025 Environmental Legislative Agenda
See Illinois’ 2025 Environmental Legislative Agenda, including all of the most important environmental bills this session!
Illinois’ 2025 Environmental Legislative Agenda Read More »
Lawmakers give small boost to renewable developments, delay broader reform
Energy policy likely to be revisited in spring legislative session. Lawmakers this week passed a bill aimed at boosting the development of renewable energy generation, but its proponents said the final measure was a “skinny” version of what they had hoped to pass. “We’ve seen the effects of climate change. We’ve seen the effects on
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