Tell State Legislators: Illinois needs a Clean and Reliable Electricity Grid!

Illinois must act now to protect consumers, our power grid, and our climate!

As your constituent, I ask you to urgently co-sponsor and vote yes on the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB40), which accelerates cost-effect clean energy resources needed to protect consumers from energy price spikes, gives ratepayers tools to reduce their utility bills, and establishes a regular state energy planning process to ensure Illinois’ grid can meet demand with affordable clean energy. President Trump and the Republican-led Congress are actively dismantling our country’s greatest clean energy achievements in the Inflation Reduction Act. These setbacks present grave threats to our climate progress and for ratepayers across Illinois who are already facing significant price spikes on their utility bills as energy markets struggle to keep pace with unprecedented energy demand. The Illinois legislature must respond to these threats with immediate, bold action by accelerating clean energy resources like energy efficiency, battery storage, and solar to protect consumers from price spikes and safeguard Illinois’ climate commitments made in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act provides those commonsense solutions. The CRGA Act expands battery storage deployment to 6 GW to ensure Illinois has enough resources to meet energy demand and avoid price spikes on family utility bills. Battery storage systems store electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind power, ensuring that clean energy can be used even when the renewable source isn’t actively producing energy. The CRGA Act also strengthens our power grid to ensure reliability by promoting improvements to transmission infrastructure, maximizing the amount of clean electricity power lines can carry, and reducing bottlenecks in the process to develop and improve transmission lines. In addition, the CRGA Act provides ratepayers access to tools to reduce their utility bills, like increasing access to rebates to weatherize homes and purchase efficient appliances and increasing funds for low-income efficiency programs to ensure families who need support the most can reduce their bills. The CRGA Act also finally establishes responsible and regular energy planning to strengthen energy policy-making, support the implementation of CEJA, and right-size our clean energy procurement targets to meet our energy needs. The CRGA Act also introduces transparent energy planning for municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives to strengthen local control, oversight, and democratic participation for the 1 million Illinoisans who get their electricity from a provider other than major utilities like ComEd and Ameren. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB40) is urgently needed to bolster our electric grid with affordable clean energy resources, ensure ratepayers are protected from ballooning energy costs, and accelerate Illinois’ climate and energy goals amidst direct attacks from the federal administration on this progress. I urge you to co-sponsor and vote yes on the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act by the end of May – don’t let the clock run out on our chance to strengthen our power grid and deliver price stability for consumers across Illinois!