Illinois Requires 25 Percent Renewable Power by 2025

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed a bill on August 28th that requires
the state's electric utilities to draw on renewable energy for 25% of
their electricity needs by 2025. The renewable energy requirement
starts at 2% of the power supply on June 1st, 2008, and ratchets up to
10% of the power supply on June 1st, 2015, then increases by 1.5% per
year until 2025. The law requires 75% of the renewable power to come
from wind energy. Other than wind power, the law also allows solar
energy, biomass energy, hydropower that does not involve new
construction or significant expansion of dams, and "other alternative
sources of environmentally preferable energy."

The renewable energy requirement applies to electric utilities that
serve at least 100,000 customers within the state. It allows those
utilities to meet the requirements with renewable energy credits and
gives preference first to projects within the state, then to projects
in adjacent states, then to projects located elsewhere. The law also
places limits on the cost impacts of the renewable requirement,
allowing utilities to fall short of the requirement if the cost impact
is too great.

The renewable energy requirement is part of a larger law that
establishes the Illinois Power Agency, which has broad powers to
develop electricity procurement plans; conduct competitive
procurements; build electric power or cogeneration plants that use
renewable energy, coal, or both, financed with bonds issued by the
Illinois Finance Authority; and supply electricity at cost to
municipal electric systems, governmental aggregators, and rural
electric cooperatives. With those powers, the new agency will help
large utilities plan their renewable power procurements while building
some of the renewable power facilities needed to meet the requirement.
See the press release from the Environmental Law & Policy Center
(PDF 26 KB) and the full text of the law, Public Act 095-0481 (PDF 412 KB).
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