Just weeks before ComEd customers are about to get hit with higher bills, Illinois lawmakers are considering ways to generate and conserve more power with a plan to push for additional solar and wind energy and end a state ban on new nuclear plants.
Under the measure, the state would also provide incentives to build large batteries that store the energy produced by “renewable” solar and wind power.
Consumers would also be urged to conserve more energy under incentives included in a more than 750-page bill that was presented in the final days of the legislative session.
All these efforts are necessary to bring down consumer electric bills and meet the state’s goals of phasing out fossil fuel power sources that pollute the air and contribute to climate change. Fossil fuel sources, such as coal plants, have been shutting down in Illinois and other states. But there has been a delay completing solar and wind power projects to replace the older energy.
ComEd and other electric customers across the country are seeing higher bills as power demand increases are being driven by a development boom of big data centers, particularly operations focused on artificial intelligence.
Data centers house equipment used for applications such as cloud computing and AI. A midsize data center can use enough electricity to power a small city.
ComEd customers who are paying about $100 a month for electricity are going to see bills spike by $10.60 a month on average as higher prices take effect in June. A hot summer will skew that number higher as air conditioning drives demand for electricity.
“The average consumer is going to see a price increase in their electric bill this year,” said Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Democrat who represents the Southwest Side and surrounding suburbs. “Hopefully, [the measure] will provide long-term relief to ratepayers.”
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is pushing for data centers as part of his economic development agenda, though he has acknowledged that the power needs have to be addressed. Pritzker also has championed environmental policies and signed a major climate-fighting measure into law in 2021 that phased out coal and natural gas. The state is well behind on its goals spelled out in that law.
“We can drive down the cost of energy by increasing the supply of electricity at the time of peak need and by cutting demand,” Cunningham said. “One of the best ways to increase supply is with battery storage, and one of the best ways to decrease demand is with energy efficiency.”
The proposal’s future remains in question, with lawmakers expected to adjourn Saturday.
Nuclear power
The legislation would end a state ban on new nuclear plants, which is sure to raise questions about building multibillion dollar plants that critics consider an outdated source of energy and that also come with safety concerns.
With six plants and 11 nuclear reactors, Illinois has more than any other in the U.S. and is the biggest producer of nuclear power in the country. Nuclear plants provide more than half of the power generated in Illinois. Fossil fuels, including natural gas and coal, are the next biggest sources of power, followed by wind energy.
Constellation Energy, formerly part of Exelon, owns the Illinois nuclear plants.
The measure in Springfield would give Constellation an option to build a plant if a private data center operator is willing to foot the bill, according to Cunningham. He said no electric customer would be expected to fund the multibillion dollar project.
In a statement to the Sun-Times, Constellation said that it has no current plans to add new nuclear plants in Illinois.
In Pennsylvania, Microsoft struck a deal with Constellation last year to bring the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor out of retirement so it can power company data operations for 20 years.
Nuclear energy has been viewed as bridging the transition from fossil fuel power to renewable energy because it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to climate change.
All six of Constellation’s Illinois nuclear plants are subsidized by electric customers as a result of the last two major energy laws passed in Springfield, including the 2021 law.