By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – With support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, an Illinois state lawmaker has filed legislation to repeal much of the Future Energy Jobs Act, including provisions that would strip the state’s largest utility of a ratepayer subsidy as federal investigators probe the company’s lobbying practices.
The Future Energy Jobs Act was one of the few major legislative accomplishments of the gridlock-mired 100th General Assembly.
At the time, nuclear energy provider Exelon, the parent of Commonwealth Edison, said the fate of two of its power plants hung in the balance. If lawmakers didn’t approve the bill, the plants would close.
Supporters said Senate Bill 2814 was a hallmark accomplishment for green energy initiatives, while critics called it a ratepayer-funded bailout of the two nuclear power plants owned by Exelon. Lawmakers sent it to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk in bipartisan fashion while in the same day trading barbs about each other’s recalcitrance over a protracted budget battle.
“I couldn’t understand why so much of the energy in the Capitol during veto session was spent on bailing out a profitable billion-dollar company as opposed to dealing with the crisis we were having at the state level,” said state Rep. Mark Batinick, a Republican from Plainfield who filed legislation that would undo part of the Future Energy Jobs Act.
Amid a federal investigation of ComEd’s lobbying practices, House Bill 3987, by Batinick’s description, is intended to eliminate the bailout, but preserve the green energy subsidies accounted for in the initial legislation.
“The ComEd bailout bill is part of the FBI investigation and this is really a problem,” he said. “Reviewing these subsidies with new legislation is the best path forward to right this wrong.”
ComEd defended the legislation.
“The Future Energy Jobs Act was a bipartisan, comprehensive environmental policy that corrected known market flaws by placing a value on clean and renewable energy, including nuclear, and creating new renewable and energy efficiency programs that will save customers $7 billion by 2030,” Media Relations Manager Elizabeth Keating said. “The Zero Emission Standard element of FEJA succeeded in preventing 20.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions, preserving 4,200 jobs and $1.2 billion in economic activity, and avoiding up to $250 million annually in rate increases for customers that would have resulted from nuclear plant closures. However, there is still work to be done to ensure Illinois remains on track to meet its goal of achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2030.”
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat who also opposed the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, is co-sponsor of Batinick’s bill.
“As an active proponent of clean energy legislation, I was disappointed to see a bailout for a profitable corporation linked to otherwise good policy,” she said in a statement. “With recent revelations about the ongoing investigations, I hope that more of our colleagues agree that this flawed law deserves another look.”
In addition to revisiting the Future Energy Jobs Act, Batinick said ComEd needs to send representatives to Springfield to testify before a committee about the process in which the company successfully lobbied to pass the bill.
As of Thursday evening, House Bill 3987 had gained four more cosponsors from both sides of the aisle.
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