State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says Illinois citizens should brace themselves for incoming utility hikes.
On March 18th at the Capitol, Davidsmeyer alerted the Illinois House of the electricity hikes and potential energy shortages. He says the hikes come from a combination of factors, including the state’s green energy policies: “The governor set aggressive decarbonization goals pushing utilities to move away from reliable energy sources. MISO, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, which manages the Illinois grid in the central and southern portion of the State of Illinois has warned of potential energy shortfalls particularly in Central and Southern Illinois.”
Davidsmeyer says the move towards green energy is artificially increasing the price of electricity: “As we force our energy policy…as we force renewables that are not ready to provide the actual energy that we need and we retire reliable sources like coal and [natural] gas – what are we doing? We are increasing the price, artificially increasing the price, we are forcing increases of price in energy to our constituents.”
Davidsmeyer says that when there is a shortage, the state imports energy from neighboring states that are still using coal and gas-fired power plants to produce electricity: “We have to have something that provides the energy. The reality is we don’t have energy here in the State of Illinois. Do you know what we do? We import it. We import coal energy or natural gas energy from Indiana, from Missouri, and from Kentucky. So, we are getting it from the same sources. You just feel better because we are not producing it here in the State of Illinois.”
Outside of what he has called bad policy choices, Davidsmeyer noted the higher electricity prices will be due to higher demand during peak summer months, constraints on power supply, and ongoing transitions away from fossil fuels in the state’s energy mix.