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During an event in front of a banner saying “Biden-Harris
Administration; Investing in America,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker
announced the $50 million in federal tax funds coming to the
community to help achieve his “ambitious clean energy goals.”
“This is also an investment in our vision for the new clean
energy economy, creating well-paying jobs and building a skilled
and diverse workforce pipeline for education and technical
training,” Pritzker said.
Commonwealth Edison CEO Gil Quiniones said the federal tax funds
will be matched by ComEd.
“In addition to the $50 million GRIP award from DOE, we at ComEd
are chipping in another $49.5 million to support infrastructure
improvements and workforce development,” Quiniones said.
By 2029, the governor’s office said overall public and private
investment in the Rockford grid will total about $116 million.
Pritzker said he was told by a Biden administration official one
reason Illinois got the grant.
“He said one of the reasons that we won this grant is because of
the workforce development that has gone into it,” Pritzker said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk said as an Illinois
native, Illinois is poised to tap into such programs. He said
the federal program focuses on flexibility.
“What it means is your solar, your wind, your other intermittent
renewable goes further, it lasts longer, it has more impact
going forward,” Turk said. “What it also means is when you have
a storm, whether it’s a tornado, a hurricane, a wildfire, the
grid is more resilient.”
Nationwide, Turk said the overall taxpayer cost for the federal
grid investment program is $36.9 billion, including 30,000 jobs.
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