Wednesday, August 29, 2007
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Rate deal -- Illinois to lead in renewable energy and efficiency           Send a link to a friend

[August 29, 2007]  CHICAGO -- At noon Tuesday, Gov. Blagojevich signed the electricity rate bill, making Illinois a national leader in standards for electricity created by renewable sources such as wind power, biomass and solar power. The bill also requires energy efficiency programs that will effectively stop the growth of electric use in the state. Each of these two provisions is among the strongest in the country, and together they will substantially reduce global warming emissions from electricity generation in Illinois.

"Energy efficiency not only provides electric bill relief for Illinois customers, but as the bill savings compound, our environment gets cleaner and cleaner," said Rebecca Stanfield, director of Environment Illinois. "Combined with the state's first renewable energy standard, this bill represents a major step toward a smarter, cleaner energy future."

The bill requires that a quarter of the power procured for Illinois customers will be generated from clean, renewable energy by 2025. Illinois becomes the 22nd state to have goals for energy efficiency, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Only two states, Maine and Minnesota, have higher goals. The energy efficiency program ramps up to a target of reducing the load by 2 percent a year by requiring utilities to provide customers with assistance to reduce their energy needs through more efficient appliances, weatherizing their homes and businesses, and other measures.

The Illinois Senate unanimously passed these renewable energy and efficiency provisions earlier this session as the Affordable, Clean Energy Standards Act, Senate Bill 1184, championed by state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park.

"We are very grateful to Senator Harmon for tirelessly working to advance the cause of clean energy, and to Attorney General Madigan, Senate President Jones and Speaker Madigan for supporting clean energy during the rate negotiations," said Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. "It's long past time that we embraced our homegrown clean energy resources to build a 21st-century electric system for Illinois."

The energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions of the legislation would lower the amount of traditional electricity generation necessary to meet consumer load in Illinois by about 24 percent, saving consumers roughly $2 billion per year by 2020. The renewable energy standard could reduce global warming emissions by as much as 15.8 million metric tons per year, while the efficiency standards would reduce global warming emissions by as much as 37 million metric tons per year.

"While a rebate on electricity rates is always nice, these programs will provide much more significant and lasting benefits to consumers, while helping us ... curb our contribution to the crisis of global warming," said Alecia Ward, president of the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

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"The bill will also help to prioritize reducing peak power use, which is the most expensive electricity," said Anthony Star of the Community Energy Cooperative. "This will have a big impact on consumers' electric bills."

In an era of increasing electric rates, energy efficiency is the only way to reduce customers' bills over the long term. Renewable energy resources will also allow the utilities to lock in stable prices for the electricity purchased from the sources.

"With the promise of a market for their electricity, producers of renewable energy can decide to expand with the confidence that their investments can pay off. That leads to new and better renewable infrastructure here in Illinois, and that's a great benefit for our state," said Barry Matchett of the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

However, the state's leading environmental organizations also expressed concern that the bill allows the state of Illinois to build a new coal-fired power plant that will create new global warming emissions. The power plant would not be required to use technology to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions, posing the threat that this plant could offset the environmental benefits of the renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.

"In this day and age, to build a new coal plant without dealing with the carbon dioxide emission would be an almost unimaginable step backward," said Goldman. "We are going to work to make sure that the state does not make such a foolish decision as to move forward with the escape clause that this provision allows."

[Text from file received from Environment Illinois]

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