Illinois General Assembly Passes Major Clean Energy Legislation 

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA) Oct. 30 at the fall legislative session. The CRGA Act is the largest state investment in clean energy since the Trump administration rolled back the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC).   

The bill promises to bring Illinois’ electric prices down, especially in the state’s surge of data center construction, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The bill also provides 3 gigawatts of energy battery storage, requirements for energy efficiency programs at natural gas and electric utilities, air quality regulations for data centers, the lifting of the state’s decades-long nuclear moratorium and several more clean-energy provisions. 

The promised 3 gigawatts of energy storage is enough to power thousands of homes in the case of an emergency, like grid black-outs or weather disasters. The battery storage investment is estimated to power at least half a million homes for 24 hours during times of need, according to the NRDC.  

CRGA was introduced in the spring legislative session by environmental advocacy group Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC). Its aim was to address electricity price spikes due to a supply crunch and unprecedented increase in power demand from new data centers. Additionally, it addresses a delay in connection of clean-energy projects to the electric grid and protects families from price spikes and power outages, according to ICJC’s website. 

The bill passed the House (70-37) Oct. 29 and passed in the Senate (37-22) Oct. 30, the final day of October’s veto session. The bill awaits a signature from Governor JB Pritzker who pledged to sign the legislature, according to the IEC. 

The new act is intended to work in tandem with the Clean and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), a legislation the state passed in 2021. CEJA aims to procure 100% clean energy for the state by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2050, according to the Citizens Utility Board website. The act includes provisions to expand electric and gas efficiency programs, implement electricity market reforms to reduce power bills and increase clean energy careers across Illinois.  

Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and Coordinator of the School’s Climate and Energy Focus Area Gilbert Michaud, Ph.D., said CRGA is necessary to maintain the provisions outlined in CEJA. 

“It seems that CRGA ends the nuclear moratorium, provides incentives for geothermal and is responding to a lot of the demand from data centers,” Michaud said. “We need to build out all this infrastructure we identified through CEJA, and now we’re kind of going through the implementation pains of that. And so, a lot of these provisions around storage are to directly respond to that [infrastructure] need.” 

Austin Stadie, a graduate student whose thesis focuses on clean energy policy in Illinois, echoed the sentiment. 

“We had the goals and everything outlined in CEJA, and then CRGA was just making sure those are achieved,” Stadie said. “It actually makes me more confident in CEJA because it shows that they’re still amending it and making sure those goals are met and reachable.” 

CRGA and CEJA both promise that low and moderate income communities see the benefits of clean energy projects, according to the Citizens Utility Board. The two pieces of legislation position Illinois as a spearhead in energy policy rooted in justice, said Loyola Director of Sustainability Aaron Durnbaugh.

“Illinois is very much on the forefront of not just trying to set a vision for what a clean-energy rich system looks like, but also being rooted in justice and equity,” Durnbaugh said. “We can’t just be open for business. We need to recognize that these big efforts might leave a lot of people out. So if people want to feel good about CRGA, just know that equity and inclusion are being addressed as well as they can within a state legislature.”  

Third-year environmental policy student Ben Jonen said these legislatures make him proud to be an Illinois resident. 

“I think it’s really awesome that Illinois is an energy leader,” Jonen said. “CRGA and CEJA are both role model policies, and it’s beautiful to see that they’re in Illinois as an environmental student born and raised in Illinois. It makes me want to stay in the state and try to be on these teams where meaningful policy is happening.”