Will Cause Extreme Heartache for Southern Illinois Families and Manufacturing Jobs
with the Highest Rate Increase in IL History
State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) voted no on the newest version of the ‘green new deal’ legislation passed in the Illinois House last night. This version is expected to go to the Illinois Senate for their consideration on Monday. Senate Bill 2408 is nearly 1,000 pages long and contains several sweeping provisions that will have both short-term and long-term negative effects on the state’s energy portfolio. Some of the items in this version include:
- Giving almost nearly $700 million in taxpayer funds to bailout Exelon
- Creating the largest utility rate increase in Illinois history
- Requiring the closure of all privately-owned coal plants by 2030
- Requiring the closure of all privately-owned natural gas facilities by 2045
- Closing the Prairie State coal plant in southern Illinois and the CWLP coal plant in central Illinois in 2045
- Giving private companies the power to invoke eminent domain in seven counties, stretching from Pike County to Clark County, to build out new transmission lines over to Indiana
- Excluding wind and solar from the same ethical standards that traditional energy must follow
“This deal will force the closure of our nuclear plants in five years and the so-called ‘renewable energy’ produced by solar and wind turbines cannot replace the dependable energy of coal and natural gas at this point,” said Rep. Adam Niemerg. “This legislation will make Illinois dependent on out of state energy when peak needs hit in the cold winters and hot summers. We can expect California-style rolling black outs if this passes the Senate and the Governor signs this very bad, ill-conceived legislation!”
“This bill does not close down state owned facilities, only privately owned and citizen-owned facilities like the Prairie State Campus, but it leaves open the state-owned coal burning facilities in Illinois, added Rep. Niemerg. “Where is the logic in that if the real goal is to save the planet from fossil fuels?”
“This special interest deal is another example of why we need ethics reform to address corruption in Illinois. Nearly 700 million dollars would go to Exelon…yes that same parent company of ComEd involved with the bribery scandal implicating ‘Public Official A’ in court documents, known by everyone to be former Speaker Mike Madigan. The cost to Illinois families and manufacturers is estimated to be $18 BILLION over the next thirty years.”
“Illinois residents need to ask why the Democrats put into this sweetheart deal that a private company from outside of Illinois can have the right of eminent domain to seize private land through seven counties for that company to lay their power lines. That is wrong, wrong, wrong!”