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The Powering Up Illinois Act in House Bill 5610 provides that an
electrical corporation that operates in Illinois shall upgrade
the state's electrical distribution systems in order to achieve
the state's decarbonization standards.
“Fast charging stations for passenger vehicles often sit idle
waiting for power,” said Muhammed Patel, a member of the Clean
Vehicles and Fuels team at the Natural Resources Defense
Council. “The act assures that we can address these delays in
the short term while giving us the long term framework to plan
and invest adequately.”
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said all electric ratepayers
will be forced to pick up the tab whether they own an EV or not.
“The 70-year-old couple who are on a fixed income are going to
pay for the upgrades now whether they use or see it or not,”
said Ugaste.
The measure advanced out of committee but with several lawmakers
voting no. It now heads to the House floor for consideration.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said his goal is to have 1 million
electric vehicles on Illinois roads by the year 2030. As of July
of last year, only 76,000 EVs were registered in Illinois.
Americans have been slow to give up their gas-powered vehicles
for EVs. EV manufacturers, including Tesla and Ford, have been
slashing prices to pick up sales, and General Motors is talking
about bringing back plug-in hybrids, possibly taking a step back
from the company's earlier commitment to shifting straight to
pure EVs.
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said federal
and state governments are fast tracking policies to limit
consumer choice and end the availability of new gas cars.
“The fact that consumers in a couple years are literally going
to be robbed of their ability to choose the cars that are most
popular and most meet their needs, that is not something that
people are happy about,” said AFPM President and CEO Chet
Thompson.
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