THE LATEST INFORMATION

The summer heat in Chicago and Illinois has dissipated, but the debate around our eye-watering electric bills shows no signs of cooling off. Virtually all of us paid far more than last year to keep the air conditioners humming over the summer months, a result of spiking power prices as demand for electricity surges due in large part to the high consumption of data centers.

As Illinois confronts skyrocketing electric bills, legislators are on the hunt for solutions that provide relief as quickly as possible. Battery energy storage is our best and most cost-effective solution.

Jordan Foley ticks off what he didn’t have when he started an intensive 13-week solar job training program on the West Side: money, a bed, clothes, food. The fear that the program wouldn’t be able to help him was intense, but Foley, 31, pressed on, learning the math, science and construction skills needed to wire and install rooftop solar panels.

Illinois saw unprecedented solar growth in 2024, adding 2.5 gigawatts of capacity to nearly double its total generation potential from the year before. But this year, the state faces some big speed bumps.

Customers around Illinois will see significantly higher prices on their electric bills next month. The average residential customer of northern Illinois’ Commonwealth Edison will pay about $10.60 per month more this summer, according to a company statement. Downstate Ameren Illinois says customers can expect an 18% to 22% increase in their monthly bill, or about $45 per month depending on usage.

Decatur has been losing factory jobs for years. A clean energy workforce hub promises renewal — and provides training for students from disenfranchised communities. Powering Rural Futures: Clean energy is creating new jobs in rural America, generating opportunities for people who install solar panels, build wind turbines, weatherize homes, and more.

Illinois has been at the forefront of the data center boom, but state lawmakers are working to gauge and mitigate the impact these centers have on climate and energy consumption. In the last two decades, data centers have multiplied due to increased demand for cloud computing, information storage and data processing.

With an increasing number of officials warning Illinois might struggle to meet its renewable energy goals, regulators and lawmakers met Tuesday to discuss how the state should regulate its energy industry. The state is facing a potential decrease in electricity generation at the same time demand is increasing, partially because of data centers’ high demand for energy.

When you flip the switch, the lights come on. But in Illinois, after years of sweeping reforms to the energy industry and growing demand for electricity, that premise is coming into question. Several experts – including those involved in crafting the state’s energy reform, current and former regulators, and those in the renewable energy industry – are warning that prices will spike this summer and rolling blackouts could become necessary in the coming years.

Clean energy and clean vehicle companies added more than 5,100 jobs in Illinois. During the first full year of the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the total number of clean energy workers in Illinois grew to almost 129,000, according to the ninth annual Clean Jobs Midwest report released today by the national, nonpartisan business group E2, Evergreen Climate Innovations and the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.