Lawmakers OK sweeping energy reform package that governor pledges to
sign
[October 31, 2025]
By Andrew Adams
SPRINGFIELD — A closely-watched and long-debated piece of energy
legislation is set to become law after passing through both legislative
chambers with the governor’s endorsement.
The bill that cleared the General Assembly Thursday funds energy storage
systems through a new charge to Illinois electric customers that will
take effect in 2030. The bill also lifts a longtime ban on new nuclear
power developments and gives new authority to state utility regulators.
Proponents say the bill will lower costs for utility customers, but
critics worry that a lack of cost-control measures will increase
electricity prices for Illinois residents.
“Here’s the bottom line in my view: this package is about making energy
more affordable for ratepayers in years ahead. We’re getting more energy
on the grid,” bill sponsor Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, said
Thursday. “If we do nothing… the rates are going to continue to go up.”
The Illinois Senate approved Senate Bill 25 — also known as the Clean
and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, or CRGA — Thursday evening, 37-22.
That follows the House of Representatives approving it Wednesday night,
70-37.
It next heads to Gov. JB Pritzker, who pledged to sign the bill
Thursday, noting that “what we’re trying to do is lower electricity
costs.”
Pritzker’s office was heavily involved in negotiations around the bill
throughout its tumultuous legislative history.
Versions of the bill date back to negotiations in 2024, with initial
talks of an energy package cropping up in the weeks ahead of a January
2025 lame duck session. Drafts of the bill circulated throughout the
spring legislative session before ultimately being abandoned.
Renewable industry, environmentalists celebrate
A cadre of advocacy groups, renewable industry associations and
lawmakers praised the bill’s passage.
The governor said the bill was a positive step toward affordability at a
time when renewable energy faces expensive headwinds across the U.S.
“For far too long, private grid operators have been hiking up rates that
are making it harder for Illinois families to pay their utility bills,”
Pritzker said in a statement. “At the same time, the Trump
Administration has been blocking the ability to bring lower-cost energy
options online.”
President Donald Trump’s domestic policy package, passed earlier this
summer, sent shockwaves through the renewable industry as it ended
subsidies and incentives for electric vehicles, wind power projects,
solar installation and other policies key to funding renewable
development.
David Braun, head of sales and marketing for the Illinois-based
renewable tech company Intelligent Generation, said that law caused “a
lot of shock and uncertainty” but that the industry was “figuring it
out.”
Illinois’ bill, according to Braun, signals that the future is bright
for renewables.
“It’s good news for the industry, and I think it’s good news for the
state of Illinois and for ratepayers,” Braun said.
The bill incentivizes new storage projects, which state officials at the
Illinois Power Agency found will suppress electricity prices in an
analysis they provided to lawmakers. It also mandates new programs to
decrease strain on the grid, like energy efficiency programs.
Amy Heart, senior vice president for policy at the California-based
solar company Sunrun, said the bill’s “virtual power plant” program will
allow utilities to aggregate resources like residential solar and
storage installations and coordinate them.
“The idea of utilizing electrons that are already stored in the
batteries that are in houses and businesses — but adding them all up and
dispatching them at times we need them the most in Illinois — reduces
the amount of energy that ComEd or Ameren has to go to the wholesale
market and buy from other states,” Heart said.
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Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, questions panelists during a Senate Energy
and Public Utilities committee hearing on Oct. 29. (Capitol News
Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Environmental groups also praised the bill, with representatives of the
Natural Resources Defense Council, Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition and
others saying the policy was a major step in keeping prices low.
“The legislation bolsters tools and programs the state needs to achieve
its clean energy goals and rebukes recent federal efforts to undermine
abundant, cost-effective wind and solar power,” James Gignac, Midwest
policy director for the climate and energy program at the Union of
Concerned Scientists, said in a statement.
After a prolonged negotiation, labor groups also signed on to support
the bill. They held out full support until lawmakers moved to close a
loophole that allowed community solar developers to avoid using project
labor agreements. Joe Duffy, head of the labor-affiliated Climate Jobs
Illinois, lauded the bill’s passage. He noted that it “ensures the clean
energy transition delivers good-paying, local union jobs.”
Criticism from Republicans, business groups
While affordability was at the center of proponents’ commendations of
the policy, it was also central to critics’ attacks. The bill’s energy
storage funding mechanism will put a guaranteed increase to Illinois
consumers’ utility bills, which sparked significant opposition from
Republicans, business groups and some Democrats.
Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, broke with his party as one of three
Senate Democrats to vote against the bill. Sen. Michael Hastings,
D-Frankfort, and Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, also voted no.
“This is about standing for integrity, for people who do not have armies
of lobbyists down here giving talking points to people to justify
raising their bills when they’re already struggling,” Preston said. “I
have to vote no.”
Preston had advocated for an alternative funding mechanism — one that
used state-backed loans and not an increase to ratepayers — in the
months leading up to the bill’s passage.
Groups representing large businesses cited similar concerns. Illinois
Industrial Electric Consumers Chair Phillip Golden said the bill’s
funding “makes no sense, especially when the same objectives are
achievable without forcing more costs on ratepayers.”
Business groups and Republicans also raised concerns over a provision
that grants the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates utilities,
the authority to create long-term “integrated resource plans.” These
plans could include goals for the supply of electricity and managing
demand.
By giving the ICC that authority, according to critics, the General
Assembly is ceding too much authority to the executive branch.
“This is a huge overreach by the governor’s administration,” Sen. Sue
Rezin, R-Morris, said. “In this bill, he just gave all of the power for
energy making decisions to the ICC — five unelected officials that he
appoints.”
Rezin, a long-time advocate for allowing more nuclear construction in
the state, said the bill’s elimination of the state’s nuclear moratorium
might not mean more nuclear power because of the authority granted to
the governor’s appointees.
“Do you think they’re going to bring nuclear online? In the past,
they’ve shown they don’t support it,” Rezin said. “They’re going to go
towards wind, solar, battery and transmission.”
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