Manufacturers group urges Pritzker to veto Illinois energy legislation
[December 17, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association is urging
Gov. J.B. Pritzker to veto an energy bill now on the governor’s desk.
The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act in Senate Bill 25 was
approved in the final days of veto session in October. It’s one of the
final pieces of legislation on the governor’s desk.
After it passed, Pritzker said the measure builds on previous renewable
energy policies by investing in batteries.
“Illinois is taking action to address these concerns and has passed the
Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act – an important step that will
help lower utility bills and make our electrical grid stronger,”
Pritzker said in a statement. “This bill will build upon the Climate and
Equitable Jobs Act, positioning Illinois to keep growing our clean
energy economy and creating good-paying jobs in communities across the
state.”
The governor said the measure accelerates “clean energy” projects with
“grid-scale batteries and other clean energy technology” and requires
utility companies to help customers lower utility bills with access to
energy efficient resources.”
Opponents warned the bill would increase utility costs for consumers.
Since then, Illinois Manufacturers' Association President and CEO Mark
Denzler said a recent study from the Illinois Power Agency, Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Commerce Commission shows
if Illinois continues on the current path, even with billions in
subsidies for battery storage, there’ll be an energy shortage in four
years.
“Particularly after this reports come out, we would encourage the
governor to veto that bill,” Denzler told The Center Square Tuesday. “Go
back to the table. Look at this report that, you know, they should have
waited until they saw the report in the first case and see what this
said. And it clearly says you need to keep your current resources on
board.”
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The 2025 Resource Adequacy Study submitted to the General Assembly
Monday says both PJM and MISO, multi-state electrical grid operators
impacting Illinois, are expected to face capacity shortfalls over
the coming decade “unless additional new capacity and resources are
developed.”
“When accounting for these supply and demand dynamics, including
announced retirements by generators in Illinois and within each RTO
market and accredited new builds currently in the queue or
fast-tracked through the PJM RRI or MISO ERAS programs, PJM is
expected to experience a capacity shortfall beginning in 2029, with
the deficit projected to widen in subsequent years if left
unabated,” the report said.
Denzler said the report reiterates what manufacturers have been
warning about.
“It's simply a supply, demand issue,” he said. “And this report says
that Illinois is going to struggle and there's going to be a date in
the near future where we may not have enough power to meet the
demand we need.”
Denzler said officials need to repeal the closure date for clean
coal and natural gas generation, things that are set by previous
state law to shutter by 2030 and 2045.
“Keep the current generational plants going, the clean coal plants
and the gas plants,” he said.
Denzler also encouraged more policy to welcome investment in new gas
plants and an “all of the above” strategy, rather than a reliance on
so-called “renewables.”
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