Home » News » How Pay-to-Play Politics and an Uneasy Coalition of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Led to a Flawed Illinois Law
How Pay-to-Play Politics and an Uneasy Coalition of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Led to a Flawed Illinois Law Source: By Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News and Brett Chase, Chicago Sun-Times • Posted: Monday, May 24, 2021
State lawmakers are running out of time to fix 2016 clean energy legislation.
Pete Southerton (left) and Tom Bradshaw, of solar energy contractor Certasun, install solar panels on a Chicago home on May 17, 2021. Credit: Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
This article is the result of a partnership between Inside Climate News and the Chicago Sun-Times.
How Pay-to-Play Politics and an Uneasy Coalition of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Led to a Flawed Illinois Law insideclimatenews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from insideclimatenews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
18 May 2021
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Illinois will need to expand its nuclear capacity - not just maintain existing plants - in order to meet climate goals, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has concluded. Keeping the state s existing nuclear plants open at the same time as investing in advanced nuclear technology and renewable energy is the most economical path to zero-carbon that generates the lowest life-cycle carbon emissions, the study has found.
Exelon s Byron plant (Image: Exelon)
The report,
Economic and Carbon Impacts of Potential Illinois Nuclear Plant Closures: The Cost of Closures, was prepared by researchers and students at the university s department of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (NPRE) and led by Kathryn Huff - who has recently been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the US Department of Energy - and Madicken Munk. The researchers modelled the state s electricity grid and conducted simula
Victory on behalf of consumers and accountability for Commonwealth Edison are far from assured by the governor’s new utility regulation proposal. But at least he is taking on the fight.
• Achieving the same amount of zero emissions power through renewables and storage would be 12 times more expensive than continuing to run Illinois’ nuclear plants and cost the state’s consumers $80 billion, Exelon CEO Chris Crane said during the company’s Q1 earnings call on Wednesday.
• State and federal officials are exploring ways to keep nuclear plants open as they are considered a key part of any plan to decarbonize the power sector. However, a proposal from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D, to support Exelon’s Byron and Dresden plants, is “not adequate,” Crane said. From Crane’s comments during the earnings call…