CHICAGO (CN) — The Illinois Senate on Monday passed an omnibus green energy bill meant to help wean the state off fossil fuels, in a 37-17 vote split largely along party lines.
Senate Bill 2408 now heads to Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker's office. He said shortly after it passed that he looked forward to signing it.
"I look forward to signing this historic measure into law as soon as possible, because our planet and the people of Illinois ought not wait any longer," he said in a prepared statement.
The most immediate effect of the bill is granting close to $700 million to energy corporation Exelon to maintain the state's nuclear power plants. Nuclear power supplies more than 50% of Illinois' electric grid, and there was fear that several of those plants would have to shutter if the bill wasn't passed.
The bill also mandates that all fossil fuel and greenhouse gas-producing energy plants in the state must reduce their net CO2 emissions by 45% by 2035, and must be at net-zero CO2 emission - effectively closed or transitioned to renewable production - by 2045.
Those plants that fail to meet the 45% reduction benchmark will be required to retire energy production units at whatever rate is necessary, or otherwise do whatever is required, to achieve the benchmark by June 30, 2038. To ease energy workers through this transition, the bill establishes a so-called Displaced Energy Workers Bill of Rights.
This Bill of Rights mandates that the state must give at least 30 days' advanced notice of plant closure to any affected coal and nuclear workers, and pledges the creation of vocational reeducation and reemployment services for workers whose plants shut down.
The bill also creates incentives for some Illinois residents to switch over to electric vehicles. Those living in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties – as well as the townships of Aux Sable and Goose Lake in Grundy County, and the township of Oswego in Kendall County – will be eligible for a rebate of up to $4,000 for the purchase of an electric vehicle. Electric motorcycles are not currently considered "electric vehicles" under the bill's terminology, though the bill's main sponsor, Senator Michael Hastings, D-Frankfort, said that would be amended later in a trailer bill.
While SB2408 enjoyed broad support from the Democrats who control the state Senate – only three voted present instead of in favor of the bill – it received vociferous condemnation from most of Illinois' Republican state senators. They warned that enacting the bill would lead to job and business loss, higher energy rates and the seizure of private and personal property for the installation of renewable energy infrastructure.
Senator Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, called the bill a "blatant attack on small business," and several state senators warned that Illinois would engage in rampant eminent domain procedures to make way for power transmission lines from wind and solar facilities.
No fewer than three Republican senators, including Senator Craig Wilcox of McHenry, also made a surprisingly leftward pivot in their attacks on the bill. They cited the common socialist criticisms that the renewable energy industry is still composed of for-profit entities that would engage in unethical profiteering behavior, and that they would simply export CO2 production elsewhere rather than actually eliminate it.
"Let's hope that this industry doesn't become the next ComEd in court," Wilcox said, referring to electric utility company Commonwealth Edison, which in 2020 admitted to bribing state legislators in order to pass laws amenable to its bottom line. Though the bill gives several hundred million dollars to Commonwealth Edison's parent company to maintain the state's nuclear plants, it also mandates that the utility will be investigated for its unethical behavior.
Wilcox added that there has been "no discussion of the carbon footprint on the production end... No discussion of strip-mining for lithium."
Wilcox further clarified his position in a phone call with Courthouse News two days after the bill passed. His opinion’s apparent alignment with socialist critiques of the green energy sector were not intended as such; instead, he said he believed in using carbon taxes to give the free market a hand in deciding Illinois’ energy sources.
“If we’re looking to decarbonize, a carbon tax would be the superior option... the things you want, you incentivize, things you don’t want, you need to disincentivize,” Wilcox said.
Senator Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, was even more critical of the bill than Wilcox. He went so far as to say that the renewable energy industry would be responsible for "bodies in the street" in his central Illinois district.
Hastings rebuked these comments, calling them "deceptive" and accusing the Republican senators of sloganeering for election season. Instead, he painted the bill as a step towards Illinois becoming a CO2 net-zero state.
"This bill is a historic culmination... where we refuse to accept anything less than the best for Illinois," Hastings said.
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