Many agree that the surge in data centers, not Illinois clean energy law, is the primary cause of skyrocketing power prices across power grid operator PJM’s 13-state footprint. Yet a recent editorial on PJM’s latest power auction gets the cause and the fix wrong (“Alarm bells are ringing loudly in electricity markets for Illinois’ clean-energy law,” Aug. 4). It quotes PJM’s own watchdog selectively, and it calls for the oldest option on the shelf: keeping tired old power plants running another five years.
The editorial is right that market monitor Joe Bowring told RTO Insider that the state’s 2021 clean energy law played a role in Illinois’ price. But that’s a small, technical point buried in the fine print. It doesn’t explain why the whole auction hit a record $16.4 billion.
For that, look at Bowring’s other numbers: Data centers caused $6.3 billion of this year’s auction, or 38%, and $29.4 billion of the last four auctions combined, or 46%. This year’s auction added just 525 megawatts of truly new power plants and upgrades, not even enough to power 10% of Illinois’ proposed new data centers. PJM came up 6,831 megawatts short of what it says the grid needs, even at the highest legal price.
That’s not a story about coal plants retiring. It’s a story about gas crowding out the clean energy Illinois already has on hand.
ComEd alone has more than 75 data center projects awaiting connection, seeking a combined 28,000 megawatts, more than double its all-time peak demand — dwarfing the 11.6 gigawatts of coal capacity Illinois’ clean energy law schedules to retire by 2030.
PJM and Illinois already have a better fix on the table. Proposals would require data centers to “bring your own new clean energy,” or BYONCE, and to pay their own way. That’s the idea behind the POWER Act (HB5513/SB4016) now before Springfield lawmakers, alongside Illinois’s new storage law and a new ComEd program that pays homes and businesses with batteries to help supply much needed power.
PJM’s reopened waiting list for new power projects drew more than 67 gigawatts of battery storage and 14 gigawatts of solar within weeks. The projects exist. PJM just needs to connect them faster.
Illinois families do have a real affordability problem coming. But rolling back a climate law that isn’t the cause won’t fix it, and neither will a five-year reprieve for old power plants.
Give BYONCE the power to protect ratepayers and clear the path for the clean power already waiting to connect.
— Nick Wallace, senior associate attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Chicago
City’s downtown vacancy rate
Regarding the editorial “Data centers occupying Loop landmark buildings is a bad idea” (Aug. 10): If I understand it correctly, the Tribune Editorial Board is saying that having a data center in an empty Chicago office tower would be bad for the psyche of the city?
We have a 28% vacancy rate in downtown office space. That means the value of these properties is rapidly dwindling. Which means, of course, that our property tax revenue from said vacancies is dwindling — if Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle ever gets the bills out.
Now, the mayor’s plan is to convert them into residences, but who is going to want to live downtown if there are no jobs to go to and there is the danger of getting your head knocked in or getting set on fire while you ride our subways?
So I am thinking that data centers are the perfect way to put these structures to the best and highest possible use. They will generate tax dollars. We sit next to the biggest source of water in the Midwest in order to cool the things.
What could possibly be the problem with these things? We have ComEd, which has a substation in downtown Chicago. Nobody has a problem with that. Could it be an objection like noise? In the Loop, the “L” is a little bit noisy, and nobody seems to have a problem with that because that is a green solution to the global warming problem.
— Terry Nugent, Chicago
Bring data center to Loop
I disagree with the editorial against using the 300 W. Adams St. property for a data center. The fact that it is a landmarked building does not preclude uses that maintain the historic appearance.
If we want the Loop to survive, we have to bring in new uses for the buildings. The Tribune Editorial Board points out that we have an excess of office space that needs new uses. I think a data center would bring jobs and people and help rebuild the area.
— David Andersen, Chicago
Long-range vision for Chicago
In response to the editorial “Climate migration could be big boost for Chicago” (Aug. 10): Are people moving from the Sun Belt to the Midwest to escape climate change? The Tribune Editorial Board recently highlighted Cincinnati’s readiness plan, which anticipates attracting climate migrants in the decades ahead.
More Top Picks Ties Plants
At the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), we take a broader approach. We plan for more than just climate. We consider a wide range of signals, patterns, shifts and drivers of change related to the economy, demographics, technology, public sentiment and more.
As the regional planners for northeastern Illinois, we look 20 to 30 years ahead and plan for many possible futures.
Right now, there is not strong evidence predicting how many people might move because of climate change, where they might go or when they might arrive. Across the scenarios, people continue to move for the same reasons they always have — pursuing opportunity, seeking a higher quality of life, and being close to friends and family who make life meaningful.
The editorial rightly notes that Chicagoland has many strengths that make it an attractive place to live and work regardless of climate pressures.
We benefit from a diverse economy with a gross domestic product that is higher than entire countries and most other states, extraordinary access to Lake Michigan’s fresh water, and a central location served by a multimodal transportation network that moves people and goods around the world.
But we rely on complex regional systems that were largely built for the last century. To maintain our high quality of life and economic prosperity, these regional systems — our infrastructure, land use patterns, energy grid and more — will require strong regional coordination, alignment and investment.
CMAP is currently working with partners across sectors to develop The Century Plan, a shared long-range vision for northeastern Illinois. It will prioritize what we need to thrive by midcentury and provide policy guidance on how we get there — together.
— Erin Aleman, executive director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Make double-dipping illegal
Illinois law allows for members of the General Assembly to be double dippers. For example, state Sen. Napoleon Harris III is also the supervisor of Thornton Township; he makes $202,950 as supervisor and $89,250 as senator, plus double benefits.
Another General Assembly double dipper was disgraced former state Rep. Harry Benton, who resigned his House seat last month related to sexual harassment complaints. Benton is the Wheatland Township highway commissioner.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a supporter of the double-dipping Benton, should have critics; Welch gave $1.4 million to Benton for his reelection bid as a state representative in 2024. The holding of multiple elected offices simultaneously is outrageous, unethical and unbecoming.
The issue of holding multiple elected offices should be a priority of the governor and members of the General Assembly; they should pass legislation making double-dipping illegal. Any lawmaker who believes double-dipping is a good thing should think about resigning.
— Bob Anderson, Wonder Lake
Pritzker protected by troopers
It’s comforting to know that SAFE-T Act proponent and anti-gun billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker’s Gold Coast home is being safely guarded, at taxpayer expense, by Illinois State Police troopers (“Trespassing suspect allegedly didn’t know he’d jumped into Pritzker’s yard,” Aug. 6).
— Bruce R. Hovanec, Chicago
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