Pritzker recommits to clean-energy economy

Governor establishes eight principles for legislation, backed by environmentalists

Gov. Pritzker has recommitted to clean energy and combatting climate change, establishing eight principles for legislation in the General Assembly. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

Gov. Pritzker has recommitted to clean energy and combatting climate change, establishing eight principles for legislation in the General Assembly. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

By Ted Cox

The governor is recommitting to clean energy by establishing eight key principles for legislation in Springfield, including ethics reform for public utilities.

The principles look ahead to the Clean Energy Jobs Act and were immediately endorsed by the Clean Jobs Coalition, but they also look to address corruption after ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million in a bribery scheme uncovered earlier this summer.

According to a news release from the Governor’s Office, the principles “focus on substantially increasing utility accountability and transparency, creating new clean-energy jobs in Illinois, reducing harmful emissions, and maintaining low energy costs for consumers and industrial users.”

Proclaiming Illinois “a leader in the Midwest” in clean energy, Pritzker said in a statement: “By working together we can build on that progress to protect consumers and the climate. With these principles as a starting point, we will ensure any legislation on energy includes robust consumer protections as we work to increase transparency and restore the public’s faith in this process.” He called the principles “guideposts for crafting a legislative proposal that puts consumers and climate first.”

The eight principles are to:

  1. Strengthen Utility Company Transparency and Ethics Requirements 

  2. Expand Consumer Affordability Protections 

  3. Make Illinois a Renewable Energy Leader and Phase Out Dirty Power 

  4. Implement a Market-Based Solution That Supports Clean Power and Clean Air 

  5. Electrify and Decarbonize Illinois’s Transportation Sector 

  6. Support Communities Transitioning to Clean Energy 

  7. Advance Equity in the Growing Clean Energy Economy 

  8. Enhance Energy Efficiency in Illinois 

Colleen Smith, of the Illinois Environmental Council, threw the support of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition behind the effort, praising the “urgency of passing bold climate legislation this fall that brings justice and investment to communities that have borne the worst of fossil fuel pollution.”

Smith said the group would work toward passing “a bill that holds utilities accountable, ends automatic rate hikes, and creates thousands of clean-energy jobs that help rebuild communities of color and lead a statewide economic recovery,” adding, “We can do this together without raising electricity rates, hiking taxes, or giving Exelon or fossil fuels a bailout. Combating climate change can’t wait, building equity and economic recovery can’t wait.”

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“We can do this together without raising electricity rates, hiking taxes, or giving Exelon or fossil fuels a bailout.”

Colleen Smith of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

Tying the principles specifically to the Clean Energy Jobs Act pending in the General Assembly, the Sierra Club’s Illinois Chapter tweeted: “The world's on fire, and action can't wait. Let's pass a bill this year grounded in science that helps build an economy that works for all of us.”

State Rep. Ann Williams, lead CEJA sponsor in the House, retweeted a post on the initiative adding the hashtag #CEJACan’tWait.

Although the governor’s release didn’t mention CEJA specifically, the principles back many of the proposals already in the bill, such as phasing out fossil fuels with the goal of reaching 100 percent clean energy by 2050, and backing communities as they make the transition away from dirty energy, including “creating a displaced-worker bill of rights to provide state support to transitioning communities and displaced energy-sector workers.”

“This is an indication that those who will lead the charge toward clean, renewable energy will truly believe in it, and won't stand to benefit from slowing down the process,” tweeted state Sen. Cristina Castro of Elgin, lead CEJA sponsor in the Senate.

The principles also move to halt automatic rate increases granted under set formulas and generally strengthen the Illinois Commerce Commission as a utility watchdog. The governor also proposes to halt utilities from “recovering” charitable contributions — meaning, in effect, charging customers for the money spent lobbying the legislature — and greatly strengthening oversight of utilities and transparency into their operations. That key ethics reform comes in the wake of ComEd agreeing to pay a $200 million fine in signing a delayed-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department last month admitting to a scheme to bribe legislators in an attempt to influence House Speaker Michael Madigan, who maintains his innocence and has not been charged in the ongoing investigation.

The principles commit to generally expanding energy efficiency and specifically moving mass transit to electric trains and buses — with 750,000 electric vehicles to be added to the state fleet by 2030 — while providing incentives for the construction of electric charging stations for cars.

“Done right, energy legislation can have massive impacts on Illinois, creating good-paying clean-energy jobs, protecting the state from the worst impacts of climate change, and powering an equitable economic recovery,” said J.C. Kibbey of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Any legislation must also prioritize health and economic development for environmental-justice communities and bring accountability to big energy companies. The principles laid out by the Pritzker administration are a good start.”