SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Much of the media focus in Illinois has been on baseball and the upcoming presidential election, but advocates for renewable energy in the state say residents need to know that later this month a nuclear bailout bill could be back in front of lawmakers.

Last month, state Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, said he would introduce another version of Senate Bill 1585, the "2016 Exelon Nuclear Bailout legislation," as early as the fall veto session, which begins Nov. 15. Dave Kraft, director of the watchdog group Nuclear Energy Information Service, questioned why ratepayers need to carry the burden of the country's largest nuclear utility.

"No other business entity in Illinois gets that privilege," Kraft said. "They didn't do it for Mitsubishi, they didn't do it for Nabisco, they're not likely to do it for Cat or Chrysler in Belvidere, or Boeing, or United Airlines when they lose money."

SB 1585 amends the Public Utilities Act, preventing premature closings of nuclear power plants. Trotter's office said there would be dire consequence to the economy, jobs, and the environment if they were shut down.

Kraft said the legislation also threatens community solar energy projects which he said Exelon and its Midwest utility, ComEd, want to eliminate.

"It gets rid of net metering, which is something we currently have, where if people want to put solar panels on their roof, they not only get the benefit of the electricity for doing that themselves, but if they generate a surplus they can actually sell it back to the grid," Kraft said. "Well, ComEd wants to get rid of that. It's in their interest to do that so they can control solar."

Illinois' utility companies have said the bailout only would raise ratepayers' bills by about 25 cents per month while ensuring stability and improving Illinois' energy markets. Critics say ratepayers would be on the hook for an average of $3 per month during the first 10 years, and more after that.

The text of SB 1585 is online at ilga.gov.


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Missouri homes and businesses have installed enough solar energy to power 68,000 homes each year.

A new report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association showed more than half of all solar installations in the United States have come online since 2020, with more than 25% installed since the Inflation Reduction Act passed almost two years ago.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the association, noted for Missouri farmers and rural residents, the most significant expense is power, needed for pumps, heating grow houses and running equipment.

"They're not paying for the sunshine," Ross Hopper pointed out. "And so, when they install solar to run their pump, or when they install solar on top of a chicken house, it saves an incredible amount of money because they are now using the sun to energize their system."

The report noted in 2012, only California had more than 25,000 solar systems installed. Today, 23 states and territories can make that claim, and 11 have surpassed 100,000 solar installations. More than 38,000 are in Missouri, which ranks 34th in the nation.

Ross Hopper emphasized not only is the growth in solar energy happening quickly, but it is sustained and she predicts it will continue to be.

"It took 40 years for the United States to install a million solar projects, and then it only took eight years to get to 5 million, and that is indicative of the rapid growth," Ross Hopper stressed. "We think it'll only take six years to get to 10 million."

She added the solar industry supports the careers of about 2,900 Missourians and has invested $1.6 billion in the state's economy.


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A new rule from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could improve Virginia's electric grid transmission capacity.

It requires utilities and grid operators to plan 20 years ahead to accommodate expected changes in energy production. The rule is designed to help Virginia meet the high energy demands of the growing data center market and prevent service disruptions in extreme weather.

Nick Guidi, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the rule will help the state reach its climate goals.

"For the first time in a lot of these states, the transmission planning process will have to explicitly take into account state goals and corporate clean energy goals," Guidi explained. "That hasn't really happened before."

He added the current process holds back state activity. The rule faced sharp criticism from FERC Commissioner Mark Christie. He characterizes it as a way to enact policies never passed by Congress and calls it "a blatant violation of the major questions doctrine." Guidi thinks it could lead to legal challenges.

Another new rule makes transmission siting easier.

Jon Gordon, policy director for the group Advanced Energy United, feels the FERC orders create advancements in transmission infrastructure development, calling it an arduous but necessary process to improve transmission capacity.

"I think as a country we've sort of gotten behind the 8-ball on upgrading our transmission infrastructure," Gordon asserted. "Now we've reached a point where we need to move quickly on transmission upgrades to ensure reliability."

He added more comprehensive long-term transmission planning is needed to ensure the lowest-cost transmission is built for reliability.

Virginia passed legislation making transmission easier. It comes as the state's grid operator, PJM Interconnection, which ranked poorly in a report due to a backlog of interconnection projects. The law means an additional 40% capacity for the current grid and saves the state congestion costs.


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A federal agency today is expected to announce reforms related to the power grid, which is stretched thin as the nation transitions away from fossil fuels.

It's a complex issue clean-energy advocates in the Midwest know far too well.

There's a push to expand transmission lines to accommodate the tidal wave of wind, solar, and other renewable projects.

Rules being unveiled could address the thorny issue of cost-sharing among states for the build-out.

More broadly, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Executive Director Nick Hylla said market dynamics are tricky - noting competing interests among utilities and developers in expanding the grid.

He said another issue is protecting wildlife.

"The history of management of transmission lines isn't some solid track record from an environmental-conservation point of view," said Hylla. "We could be doing a much better job in transmission corridors."

In these cases, decarbonization groups and conservationists are at odds with each other. Notably, a recent court ruling is allowing a transmission line project involving Wisconsin to advance.

Hylla said "non-wire alternatives" are emerging to help the movement without turning to the grid.

In Minnesota, Xcel Energy has been testing a program that incentivizes customers to curb energy use during peak demand.

Similar programs are taking shape elsewhere, but industry analysts say these initiatives are navigating their own barriers as they try to get off the ground.

Still, Hylla said an example of this approach along the East Coast is turning some heads.

"It's a BYOB program - Bring Your Own Battery program - that now, over 24,000 customers in three eastern states have subscribed to," said Hylla. "It's basically a subsidy to put a battery in your house and just to make sure that you're not using electricity in peak times. "

As governments, utilities and other entities face pressure to meet climate goals amid soaring demand for electricity, Hylla suggested these solutions will have to work hand-in-hand.

His group is focused on efficiencies, such as rooftop solar, to reshape the distribution of energy.

But he said large-scale renewable projects play a role, too, including the economic benefits for communities in which they're located.




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