SOUTHERN ILLINOIS – Amid a rising crisis of electricity unaffordability for working families and businesses in southern Illinois, State Representative Dave Severin, State Representative Patrick Windhorst, and State Representative Paul Jacobs have introduced two pieces of legislation that would repeal Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) and study how to bring power plants back online to improve electricity affordability and reliability. The Republicans have labeled their plan as “Energize Illinois.”
Rep. Severin, who serves as the House Republican ranking member and spokesperson of the House’s Energy & Environment Committee, detailed a recent Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) auction that returned a shocking $666.50 per Megawatt-day price across all zones in the summer. That same price just one year ago was $30. Severin says Illinois’ policies are to blame for the recent huge spikes in energy costs.
“People are getting their first summer electricity bills, and the prices are shockingly high and unaffordable,” Severin said. “Democrats have so far ignored my request for hearings into our failed energy policies after they voted to stifle our coal, oil, and natural gas power generation in southern Illinois. I warned that this summer energy cost crisis was coming, and the supermajority Democrats ignored my calls for action. Now, I’m sponsoring legislation to end this Green New Deal nightmare for our families and businesses.”
HB 4088 would fully repeal CEJA and its 2045 deadline for ending the use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels. HB 4087 would create 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 also be charged with exploring ways to improve the power supply mix within the state using existing energy resources and new technologies, with the stated goal of ensuring the future stability and reliability of Illinois’ power grid. The bill will consider the present and future needs of Illinois consumers while simultaneously addressing any issues related to the performance and reliability of power generation in Illinois.
House Republican Floor Leader State Representative Patrick Windhorst is joining Severin as a Chief Co-Sponsor on HB 4087 and HB 4088. The Metropolis Republican says residents and businesses alike are feeling the pain of Illinois’ failed energy policies.
“People are hurting, and they don’t know what to do. They are faced with the terrible decision of paying their electricity bill or buying the food and medicine they need, or paying their rent and mortgages,” Windhorst said. “Disastrous energy policy has led us to this untenable, unworkable, and unaffordable catastrophe. It’s time the Democrats, including Gov. Pritzker, recognize and correct their mistakes and put southern Illinois’ vast energy resources back to work for the people that my colleagues and I represent. It’s time to repeal CEJA and restore sanity, reliability, and affordability to our energy sector.”
State Representative Paul Jacobs, another Chief Co-Sponsor of the Energize Illinois plan, says he is proud to back the repeal of CEJA, as it represents his philosophy that Illinois needs an all-of-the-above energy portfolio.
“We have artificially and wrongly set deadlines for ending the use of coal, oil, and natural gas-generated power, and the results speak for themselves. I hate to say we told you so, but we told Democrats that their policies would be a disaster, and they have been,” Jacobs said. “Illinois is home to hundreds of years of coal, oil, and natural gas reserves. We have enough resources underground to provide our citizens with clean, cheap, reliable, and efficient energy. We have enough resources to be energy independent as a state, instead of buying power from neighboring states, who, by the way, are burning coal at their power plants. Our citizens cannot afford to be sacrificed at the altar of the Illinois Green New Deal any longer. Let’s Energize Illinois. Let’s repeal CEJA!”
