The bill expands renewable energy development while keeping
Exelon’s struggling nuclear plants in operation.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a major energy bill on
Thursday that will allow Exelon’s Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants
to remain in operation as part of a broader package of measures to support
clean energy in the state.
The Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814) will direct $235
million in annual ratepayer subsidies to the uneconomic nuclear plants that
collectively employ 1,500 full-time workers. Had the bill failed, Exelon
planned to close the Clinton Power Station on June 1, 2017, and shutter the
Quad Cities Generating Station a year later. The two facilities have lost a
combined $800 million in the past seven years.
“This has always been first and foremost about doing the
right thing for our customers, the talented men and women who operate the
plants, and the communities we serve,” said Chris Crane, president and CEO of
Exelon, after the bill was approved.
Exelon and Illinois subsidiary Commonwealth Edison claim the
bill maintains $1.2 billion in economic activity generated by the nuclear
plants and prevents an estimated $10 billion in increased costs associated with
higher carbon emissions had the plants closed.
The World Nuclear Association celebrated the passage of the
Illinois bill, but highlighted the need for market-based solutions to drive the
nuclear industry in future.
"In the longer term, we need markets to deliver the
electricity mix that we need, without intervention,” said Agneta Rising,
director general of the World Nuclear Association. “Markets should recognize
the value of secure and reliable electricity supplies, as well as the
environmental benefits of different forms of electricity generation.”
U.S. environmental and consumer advocates negotiated several
other significant changes to Illinois’ energy policy as part of deal, including
updates to the state’s renewable portfolio standard, an expansion of efficiency
programs, and the preservation of net metering for rooftop solar projects -- a
policy ComEd sought to end. The final bill also scrapped
a controversial proposal to implement mandatory demand charges on all
residential customers. Solar companies strongly opposed the proposal, and
Governor Bruce Rauner’s office called the demand charges “insane.”
“For months, the potential for demand charges hung over the
state like a dark cloud,” said Rebecca Stanfield, vice president of policy and
electricity markets for SolarCity. “Demand charges fundamentally change the way
consumers are billed for energy; instead of being charged for total usage,
customers would be billed based on the intensity of consumption over a short
period of time.”
“The Illinois solar industry will immediately get to work to
ensure all the intentions of this massive bill are technically defined and
implemented to create a vibrant solar industry,” she said.
Exelon is one of several investor-owned utilities to pursue
rate changes that would reduce the economic appeal of distributed solar. The NC
Clean Energy Technology Center’s latest policy tracking report found a total of 117 state and
utility-level distributed solar policy and rate changes were proposed, pending
or enacted across the U.S. in Q3 2016.
However, attempts to pass mandatory demand charges on all
residential or solar-only customers have largely failed to date. While some
smaller utilities have approved the charges, all recent proposals by
investor-owned utilities across 14 states have not succeeded. The Alliance for
Solar Choice (TASC) is hopeful that other states will follow Illinois' lead.
“Demand charges were recently proposed in Utah, and we are
hopeful that the Utah Public Service Commission will similarly reject these unprecedented
and confusing charges in order to protect solar jobs and consumer choice,” said
Lauren Randall, senior manager of public policy for Sunrun, a leading supporter
of TASC.
"Collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders,
all calling for more access to solar, was key for victory in Illinois,” she
said. “We are already witnessing a similar groundswell in Utah, with people
calling for a fair, transparent process to evaluate the myriad benefits of
solar, including more local jobs, less pollution, and more energy choice."
While the Illinois bill is a win for solar overall, there is
some more work ahead. The Future Energy Jobs Bill allows retail-rate net
metering for solar customers to continue up to 5 percent of ComEd’s peak
demand. At that point, the bill directs state regulators to launch a
stakeholder process to evaluate the costs and benefits of rooftop solar to
inform future policy.
In the meantime, the outlook is bright for renewables in the
Prairie State, particularly in light of reforms to the state’s RPS passed this
week. The bill retains the current 25 percent renewable energy target, but
fixes quirks in the RPS that caused funds for renewable
energy projects to go unused and allowed Illinois to meet the RPS criteria by
investing in clean energy projects out of state -- missing out on the
opportunity to create local jobs and economic growth. Provisions were also
included to ensure a mix of utility-scale wind and solar, community solar and
rooftop solar will be used to meet the 25 percent target.
Changes to the RPS and expansion of the state’s efficiency
programs were made after nearly two years of negotiations and grassroots
organizing, with efforts led by the Environmental Law & Policy Center,
Citizens Utility Board, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club,
Environmental Defense Fund and others. In light of the election of Donald
Trump, who has opposed federal action on climate and clean energy, Jack Darin,
director of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club, highlighted the need for
strong state action going forward.
“Clean energy technology is growing every year in Illinois.
These policies will nurture that shift away from fossil fuels, bolster our
energy economy and help ensure that every Illinois community can thrive in the
clean energy economy,” he said. “With federal climate action being more
uncertain than ever, it is more important than ever that states act decisively
on climate change, and Illinois is doing just that.”
Not all stakeholders were pleased with the Illinois outcome,
however. Dave Lundy, director of the BEST Coalition, a
non-profit representing businesses and consumer groups, called the rate caps in
the bill "a sham, sold as consumer protections but gamed by Exelon to
ensure maximum profits for the company."
According to ComEd, the bill costs for the average
residential customer are capped at an additional 25 cents per month. But
according to the BEST Coalition, citing an analysis by The Power Bureau, the
bill will actually cost residential ComEd customers an additional $4.54 per
month, and cost Ameren customers an additional $2.01 per month. "Governor
Rauner still has a chance to stand up for business and consumer ratepayers and
veto this massive rate hike for everyone," Lundy said.
Rauner aided in the negotiation of the Future Energy Jobs
Bill and is expected to sign the legislation once it reaches his desk. The bill
will take effect on June 1, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment