The bills would direct the Illinois Power Agency to procure the same amount of energy storage as required in California, which uses twice as much electricity as Illinois.
Legislation proposed in Illinois aims to establish the state’s energy-storage mandate and implement a virtual power plant (VPP) program to help optimize the power grid and flatten peak-demand periods.
Provisions in the bills, HB 3758 and SB 2497, would direct the Illinois Power Agency to procure 15 GW of energy storage by 2035, nearly twice what was proposed in a similar bill last year and equal to what’s required in California, which uses twice as much electricity as Illinois.
(Read: “Illinois energy storage legislation may save ratepayers $30 per month”)
The bills were introduced by State Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) and Reps. Barbara Hernandez and Marcus Evans, and are backed by Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and American Clean Power Association (ACPA).
“With energy prices skyrocketing across the country and leaders in Washington opening the floodgates for fossil fuels, our bill makes it clear that Illinois will remain at the forefront of lowering energy costs while investing in clean energy,” Cunningham said at a press conference.
According to Sen. Cunningham, the bill would address Illinois’ “energy crisis caused by rapid inflation and steep tariffs on many goods used to build and maintain energy infrastructure.” The bill would also address and rectify significant delays in connecting clean energy projects to regional energy grids, he said.
By eliminating Illinois’ need to import energy from other states, the bill would lower electricity costs for consumers. According to Solar Power Illinois, the bills’ 15 GW energy storage target would save consumers $2.4 billion on energy bills over the next 20 years, saving the average Ameren customer $4.37 per month and the average ComEd customer $2.81 per month.
A 2024 study by Mark Pruitt, former director of the Illinois Power Agency, found that deploying 15 GW of storage would prevent more than $7 billion in blackout-related expenses and generate more than $16 billion in total economic activity. The study also found it would create approximately 115,000 jobs in the state, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
Illinois, the sixth-largest energy consuming state, is on a trajectory for the state’s demand to outpace supply in a few years.
The bill would reduce energy emissions by 50 million tons by 2045, which is roughly the equivalent to removing 10.5 million cars off the road for one year, Solar Power Illinois said.
The bills also implement a virtual power plant (VPP) program that allows consumers with small-scale energy installations to combine their energy and distribute it throughout the grid during times of high demand, reducing peak demand stress on the grid and lowering energy costs for Illinois residents.
Ratepayers are already feeling the pain of a sluggish interconnection system that is leading to a shortfall of energy supply. The July 2024 PJM Interconnection energy capacity auction suffered an 833% increase in energy prices, due to an anticipated energy capacity shortfall, which will increase power bills by as much as $30 per month for millions of Illinois residents within the PJM Interconnection territory, SEIA said.
“Illinois’ power grid needs this legislation to accommodate high-energy emerging industries such as data centers, quantum computing, and AI,” Hernandez said. “This investment will pay dividends and lower energy bills for decades to come.”
Read the full text of SB 2497 here.
