Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Clean Energy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lake County committee signals support for two Illinois bills to speed grid upgrades and energy storage
Summary
The Lake County Legislative Committee reviewed two bills — Powering Up Illinois (HB3349) and the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (SB2473) — and reached consensus to support them and advise the county's legislative delegation, staff said on April 1.
The Lake County Legislative Committee on April 1 heard presentations on two active Illinois bills aimed at accelerating electric infrastructure upgrades and clean-energy storage, and the committee expressed consensus to support the measures and notify the county’s delegation.
Robin Groom, Sustainability Programs Manager for Lake County, described House Bill 3349, the Powering Up Illinois Act, which would require large electric utilities to upgrade distribution infrastructure to meet projected demand from building electrification and electric-vehicle chargers and to enable earlier customer energization where customers sign up for demand-response programs. Robin said the bill would reduce delays when county projects or private developments need upgraded transformers or related equipment.
Robin also summarized Senate Bill 2473, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which sets a target to develop 3 gigawatts of clean energy storage in Illinois and seeks to reduce transmission and interconnection bottlenecks. Robin said the bill would help transmission and storage developers get approvals faster, allow use of highway rights-of-way for lines in some cases, and support local county solar projects and planned demonstrations on county campuses.
Committee members asked technical questions. Member Gina asked whether HB3349 addresses how electricity is generated; Robin said HB3349 focuses on distribution capacity and electrification readiness, while SB2473 addresses clean energy and storage that affect generation mix and grid storage capacity. Member Mara asked whether the county’s legislative delegation could be asked to publicly support the measures; the committee asked staff to coordinate outreach.
Decision and next steps: Committee members signaled consensus support for both bills and directed staff to consult with Mike and Derek about a strategy to notify and engage the county’s legislative delegation.
Ending: Robin and staff will continue to monitor the bills’ committee movement and report progress to the Legislative Committee.
