|
 “For months our administration has been very clear that any
energy legislation should follow the guiding principles of
protecting jobs, ratepayers and taxpayers. After dozens of hours of
good faith negotiations, we have reached an agreement that aligns
with those principles. This legislation will save thousands of
jobs. It protects ratepayers, through guaranteed caps, from large
rate increases in years to come. It also ensures taxpayers are
not on the hook to keep the power plants open and online. We thank
the rank-and-file legislators and stakeholders for their
perseverance and commitment to seeing this through. This process
shows that when all parties are willing to negotiate in good faith,
we can find agreement and move our state forward.”
Background
SB 2814 contains a guaranteed cap that energy prices cannot
increase more than 25 cents on the average residential home, and
cannot increase more than 1.3 percent on commercial and industrial
users over the next ten years. Rates are projected to decrease
for the first several years due to the utilities being able to
amortize energy efficiency. It also guarantees the plants remain
open for ten years. Exempting the bill from prevailing wage reduced
the cost of the bill, as well as, eliminating billions of dollars in
special interest giveaways.
[Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner] |
 |
