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With more coal and gas plants going offline under Illinois'
Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, some lawmakers are concerned of
possible brownouts.
During a recent Senate Energy Committee hearing, Brian Thiry,
external affairs director with Reliability First Corporation,
said retirements of old power sources are outpacing new power
sources coming online.
“As we shrink these margins, it is a reliability risk, so it is
just something we need to consider. It is a risk that we are
seeing and it's a risk we’re concerned about,” Thiry said.
Thiry warned that some renewable projects could be delayed due
to financial problems or supply chain issues.
Diane Holder, vice president of Entity Engagement and Corporate
Services with Reliability First, said what they are seeing are
reduced reserve margins for energy.
“Retirements are outpacing new installations, and I’m sure you
can understand, that is a bit of a gap, and one that we think
battery storage can certainly help address, but battery storage
is not yet fully developed,” Holder said.
Some state lawmakers have highlighted the fact that some of the
retiring plants should have been kept online longer through the
clean energy transition.
“My colleagues and I have no issue with the development of
alternative sources of energy,” said state Rep. Blaine Wilhour,
R-Beecher City. “What we have an issue with is the heavy hand of
government forcing the closure of power plants before there are
viable alternatives in place.”
According to the Energy Information Administration, as of July
2022, Illinois had the country’s fifth largest energy
consumption among states. Just over half of that comes from
nuclear, the highest proportion of any state.
The committee plans to meet again to discuss reliability issues
in the near future.
“Indiana or Texas, they’re much faster at this,” said state Sen.
Suzy Glowiak-Hilton, D-Western Springs. “We are in Illinois. It
seems to be really slow, so I’m concerned about our ability to
transition quickly.”
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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