Energy prices are rising across the country because demand is increasing and there isn’t enough supply to keep up. That problem is particularly acute in the PJM region, which includes the Chicago area, because PJM, the country’s largest regional grid operator, failed to plan for data centers and other big energy users.
A recent editorial correctly points to the need for more energy supply (“Alarm bells are ringing loudly in electricity markets for Illinois’ clean-energy law,” Aug. 4). That’s why, in the face of rising costs around the country, Illinois policymakers stepped up to produce more homegrown energy. Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois legislators passed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act to quickly inject more energy supply onto the grid. CRGA aims to bring 3 gigawatts of battery storage onto the grid by 2030, matching the roughly 3 gigawatts of statewide coal-fired generation set to retire in the same time frame. Grid-scale batteries helped Texas meet energy demand amid data center growth.
The Illinois Power Agency is set to hold an energy storage procurement event this month.
CRGA also includes an Integrated Resource Plan, which is due in November, a data-driven analysis of the lowest-cost solutions to addressing the state’s shortfall. It already allows the state to extend the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act’s fossil plant retirement schedule, as the editorial acknowledges, if necessary for reliability.
Moreover, last month, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved the state’s first virtual power plant (VPP) program to increase supply and reduce peak electricity costs for all customers next summer.
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By focusing on the lowest-cost and fastest deployable solutions, including renewables, energy storage, VPPs and energy efficiency, Illinois’ actions outpace those of other states in PJM’s footprint.
As PJM addresses challenges with its interconnection queue and reforms its market, an acknowledgement that high-capacity prices haven’t resulted in meaningful new generation, more work can be done in Illinois. Lawmakers can ensure that data centers coming to the state bring investment and clean energy supply to insulate existing customers. Investment can range from injecting more dollars into programs to upgrade homes with advanced energy technologies to more transmission and clean generation.
CRGA provides Illinois with the tools to meet rising demand without a trade-off between affordability and reliability. Prematurely extending the life of costly fossil fuel power generation in response to rising costs in a market undergoing reforms may straddle Illinois customers with more costs than otherwise necessary.
— Samarth Medakkar, Park Ridge
Stay the course on renewables
Regarding the editorial calling for the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act to be amended to allow gas plants to operate past the 2030 deadline: I believe this is incredibly irresponsible advice. In case anyone hasn’t noticed, climate change is already here and will only get worse. Our best hope is to transition quickly to solar and wind power and battery storage to alleviate the worst-case scenario for people and other life forms, on which we are dependent. The case for renewables is so compelling that it’s difficult to imagine deliberately choosing business as usual. Renewables ensure cheaper electricity and a cleaner, healthier environment.
As someone who grew up along the Gulf Coast of Texas, I saw the pollution and dangerous conditions created by the oil and gas industry and also, sadly, the greed and misinformation generated by those companies. Fortunately, we now have cleaner, greener, safer ways to generate power.
Illinois is on the right path with renewable energy. It would be the utmost folly to veer from that path.
— Candace Colby, Freeport, Illinois
Benefits of community solar
Many people assume solar energy is only for homeowners who can afford rooftop panels; Illinois’ Torrence community solar project shows that’s simply not true.
A decade ago, when Illinois enacted policies to expand access to renewable energy, the goal wasn’t to simply build more generation — it was also to ensure that neither the numbers in your ZIP code nor your paycheck would determine if you had access to the benefits of local solar power and storage.
Today, the Torrence community solar program serves hundreds of households just south of Chicago. Many subscribers are renters earning less than $50,000 a year, families that spend a large share of their income on energy bills. One participant shared that the money she has saved on electricity is helping cover groceries and other expenses, including the added cost of keeping her apartment cool during increasingly hot summers.
The benefits extend well beyond individual subscribers. Community solar projects create local jobs, generate tax revenue, support workforce development and create new opportunities for agricultural businesses, all while providing affordable energy options for households.
By generating electricity closer to where it’s used, community solar strengthens local economies and helps reduce strain on the electric grid. As battery storage expands, virtual power plants, or VPPs — networks of local solar and storage devices — can deliver locally generated electricity when demand is highest, improving reliability and helping contain costs for all customers.
As states confront rising electricity demand and growing concerns about affordability, community solar offers one practical way to expand energy options while delivering benefits to households and local communities.
What has worked in Illinois, thanks to the leadership of Gov. JB Pritzker and the legislature, won’t translate perfectly to other states. The good news is that policymakers don’t have to start from scratch. Thanks to resources such as The Pew Charitable Trusts’ distributed energy resources policy playbook, a practical framework exists to evaluate policies that will improve energy affordability, resilience and reliability.
The success of these policies isn’t measured only in megawatts, but also in families who can afford groceries, medications, household expenses and summer cooling because their electric bills are lower. Community solar demonstrates that clean energy and lower energy bills don’t have to be competing priorities: With the right policies, homeowners and renters alike can share in the benefits of a more affordable, reliable energy system.
— John Delurey, managing director of campaigns, Vote Solar
What Rebuild Illinois achieved
When most people think about infrastructure investment, they picture the construction site: orange barrels, heavy equipment and workers rebuilding a road or bridge.
But those things tell only part of the story. To understand the true value of infrastructure investment, we need to look beyond the construction zone.
A new analysis of the state capital program Rebuild Illinois shows what we find when we do. The nonpartisan Illinois Economic Policy Institute examined $30.8 billion in transportation investments made between 2020 and 2025. The study, commissioned by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois, found each dollar invested generated approximately $1.79 in economic activity statewide — a nearly 200% return and approximately $2 for every dollar invested in the Chicago region.
Those benefits reach far beyond engineering and construction.
Rebuild Illinois created or preserved approximately 39,200 jobs annually. About 21,600 were directly connected to construction, and nearly 17,600 additional jobs were supported outside the construction industry through supply chain purchases and spending by workers these projects support.
Local governments benefit as well. Rebuild Illinois increased motor fuel tax distributions to counties, municipalities and townships and authorized $1.5 billion in bond funding for local infrastructure to help communities move forward with projects that might otherwise be delayed or unfunded.
The broader economic activity generated by the program produced an estimated $169 million in additional local tax revenue each year — including approximately $102 million annually in the Chicago region.
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For suburban municipalities facing rising costs and limited resources, those benefits matter. Strengthening the local tax base allows communities to address deteriorating roads and bridges before they become more disruptive — and more expensive — to repair.
Rebuild Illinois has helped repair more than 21,000 miles of roadway, rehabilitate or replace more than 800 bridges and complete nearly 1,200 safety improvements.
Yet substantial needs remain. Rebuild Illinois was a down payment on decades of deferred maintenance, not the final payment. Delaying infrastructure investment does not save money; it shifts higher costs and greater safety and reliability problems to the future.
The study results show why Illinois should treat infrastructure as an economic asset rather than an expense. The return is measured not only in smoother roads and stronger bridges, but also in jobs across the economy, stronger local businesses, additional municipal revenue and more competitive communities.
— Kevin Artl, president and CEO, American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois
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