From State Rep. Marty McLaughlin:
Here’s what this new expensive law means for Illinois families and businesses:
- Potential surcharges and billions in added costs for ratepayers to fund battery storage and high cost alternatives
- Promotion of high cost alternatives – often using foreign-made components
- Reduced emphasis on dependable Illinois coal, natural gas, and other low cost traditional sources amid projected shortages
- More open spaces converted from nature and farmland to expensive inefficient solar fields
- Rate Decisions increasingly handed to state agencies and boards with a track record of over overcharging overpromising, and underdelivering
This is another top-down experiment from Springfield that ignores warnings of energy shortfalls while driving up bills for hardworking Illinoisans. It prioritizes green mandates over affordability and reliability.
I oppose this misguided legislation and will continue to oppose policies that raise costs, threaten grid stability, and erode local control.
