By: Mark Glennon*
Whodathunkit? Taxpayer assistance to relieve the pain of government failure.
On Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker proudly announced a whopping $300 million of cash assistance for Illinoisans struggling with energy bills. “Every Illinoisan deserves access to reliable energy—regardless of their economic status,” Pritzker said in his press release.
That’s just the latest result of Illinois’ foundering energy policy but, first, note that the new program is for natural gas, propane and electricity (only about 10% of which is from renewable projects). Those are the very energy sources that Illinois is in the process of deliberately trying to destroy.
Illinois plans to have 50% of its electricity production from renewable sources by 2040 and 100% from clean energy sources by 2050. That’s under CEJA (Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act), which became law last year and was correctly called by one of its sponsors “the most aggressive, most progressive climate bill in the nation.”
It’s all part of what two leading supporters openly call an “industrial policy.” That was in a Chicago Tribune op-ed last week by Kady McFadden, a former deputy director at Sierra Club “whose work was instrumental in passing” CEJA, and Ameya Pawar, a former Chicago alderman who was also active in forming Illinois’ energy policy.
The first “case in point” of what they call in their column a “thoughtful industrial policy” is the financial support Illinois taxpayers are providing to Illinois electric vehicle makers. Illinois last year set out to become the national leader in electric vehicles and their batteries with its Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act.
But reimagine this: The plan is failing.
Details are in a Crain’s report last week. “Pritzker’s vision of Illinois as an electric vehicle production hub is in danger of becoming a pipe dream,” Crain’s says. “Illinois still hasn’t landed a factory that produces the most valuable component of electric vehicles—the batteries that make them go.” Illinois is 0 for 18 in the competition for battery plants.
Crain’s identified another problem discouraging manufacturers of anything – not just EVs – from coming to Illinois: CEJA “is expected to drive up electricity costs, a major expense for manufacturers.” Historically, Illinois had comparatively inexpensive electricity thanks to market-based competition for the best sources. But policy now favoring more expensive renewable sources is turning into another disadvantage in the competition for investment and jobs.
Illinois consumers are already getting slammed. Roughly the southern two-thirds of Illinois is seeing a 50% jump in electricity cost and is at “severe risk” of brownouts.
Defenders of CEJA are often saying that it isn’t to blame for rising costs. CEJA, they note, only became law last year and the shutdown of coal plants, which is causing much of the problem, was announced earlier.
That’s hardly convincing. Pritzker and the General Assembly put a target on the back of all fossil fuel plants long ago. He campaigned on a goal of 100% renewables and made it a priority upon taking office over three years ago. Even then, legislation had already set the impossible goal of 25% renewables by 2025. That goal was clearly an illusion and won’t be met.
On a more fundamental level, this isn’t complicated. Illinois simply does not have adequate capacity to deliver electricity reliably at a good price. Higher prices and brownout risk prove that. The government simply blew it with policies that we now know did not match capacity with demand.
The most frightening, new warnings of the consequences of naively aggressive green energy policy are from California and Europe.
California, which is right up with Illinois in green ambitions, this week issued an energy conservation emergency alert and is asking consumers to avoid charging EVs.
Most of Europe is in crisis. Companies large and small are cutting back or closing entirely due to high energy prices. People are hoarding firewood. The continent faces a true catastrophe this winter. Their problem is mostly caused by foolish reliance on natural gas from Russia, but green overoptimism has contributed.
Illinois’ energy policy still includes a complete moratorium on new nuclear plants, even though nuclear is making a “remarkable comeback” elsewhere in the world, as described here. Even climate alarmist National Public Radio reports that environmentalists are now embracing nuclear energy.
Such is Illinois’ “industrial policy” that its architects are so proud of.
You’d think they’d have chosen a better term. Even to those of us who aren’t free market purists, “industrial policy” has very derogatory connotations, and rightfully so. It means central planning and statism, which typically fail because the government is particularly bad at picking winners and losers or looking into the future. It’s better to let the private sector take the losses gambling on that, as some of us see things, and the private sector is more likely to get it right.
Industrial policies are also prone to the politics of the day. So it was with CEJA, which is jam-packed with social justice goals. In CEJA’s 956 pages, “equity” appears 114 times and “environmental justice” appears 86 times. It amounts to micro-management of Illinois’ energy sector by bureaucrats.
All that costs money. Lots of it. The total cost of CEJA has been estimated at more than $800 million annually plus another $1.2 billion annually in higher electricity rates. Estimates, however, vary widely, and nobody truly knows the full cost.
The lesson Illinois is learning is not that renewable energy sources have no place in a long-term solution. They do. It’s just that they aren’t remotely close to being ready enough, and the consequences of pretending otherwise are materializing faster than anybody expected.
“We will sell no wine before it’s time” was Orson Welles’ line in a commercial decades ago for Paul Masson wine. “We will rely on no technology before it’s time” should have been a cornerstone in Illinois’ energy policy. The consequences of that mistake are rapidly becoming apparent.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Earlier related columns by Wirepoints:
- As the folly of Illinois’ new energy law becomes evident, a ray of hope breaks through
- Electricity cost rising 50% in much of Illinois and risk of brownouts looms
- Should Illinois Follow Norway’s Lead To Break Impasse On Energy Bill By Just Writing A Check?
- Lake Michigan water levels have dropped to near normal, so yet another climate explanation emerges
- New CUB Scandal Is Another Reason To Kill The Clean Energy Jobs Act
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Anybody recognize the receiver with the rack handles?
I kinda miss Orson…..
The Illinois Clean Tech Economic Coalition makes Enron look like a bunch of amateurs. This is the true definition of Fascism.
I made a mistake in my post a few days ago. The Illinois Clean Tech Economy Coalition is the correct name of the alliance. You can look forward to a combination of intrusive and non intrusive load monitoring (ILM) & (NILM), or intrusive energy consumption management and higher fees if these organizations and their backers get what they want. Load monitoring is a technique for analyzing aggregate electrical consumption data that is logged by your electric smart meter, outside your home, and sent to a super computer to analyze it for consumption patterns. The end goal of this monitoring is… Read more »
Pritzker: “Every Illinoisan deserves access to reliable energy – regardless of their economic status”.
Real Pritzker: “Every productive Illinoisan deserves to have their money taken away by the State and given to an unproductive Illinoisan”.
Another in a long list of *feel good* programs from the progressives…
Their programs are not designed to do anything, but make themselves *feel good* about *doing something*…
Long winded speeches & short-sighted policies…
Oh, their programs are designed to do much, much more than just make them feel good. That would actually be rather benign. Their program is designed to take from those who, by their own hard work, have earned money, otherwise known as ‘the rich’ and distribute it to those who do not earn, otherwise known as ‘the poor.’ This makes the ‘the poor’, the recipients of government largesse, beholden to those in power who have distributed your wealth in a manner they deem just. Really just creating a huge dependent, but grateful class of people, who will continue to vote for them, again and… Read more »
Trust me, they’re not sharing with the poor either. Take a look at what they’ve done to energy prices in Germany and England for an idea of what they’re trying to do here. Californians were recently told not to charge EVs to conserve electricity days after a law was passed banning combustion engines in the near future.
Yes, indeed. You could laugh about the situation in California except you KNOW Pritzker is more than ready to do the same thing here.
Nicor gas prices for Sept is still $1.24 per therm. Last year prices for the same time frame was 1/2 that for the summer and twice that of the year before. Most people did not notice the increase since furnace is not on. So if this continues prices according to local news are up over 527% from 2 years ago. No end in sight. Heating your home will become very expensive this winter. I wonder if Greta knows or cares about this?
Green energy is a total scam. Lipstick only covers this Soviet pig; it doesn’t change the animal. President Trump warned of being too dependent on Russian oligarchs for natural gas and the Germans laughed in his face. The Krauts aren’t giggling like Kamalalala now, with their energy costs soaring and German citizens having to cut down local trees for fuel. All this for a model – the only place that shows rising temperatures. The real world is slowly cooling and has been since the 1930’s. The models start in the relatively cold years of 1981-1983, hiding the much higher temperatures… Read more »
Elon Musk himself readily admits time and time again that the planet can just turn off carbon-based fossil fuels with a flip of a switch due to the potential of rapidly destroying a countries economy. This has happened in Ghana already. There can be a slow and steady transition absolutely but not rapidly without major consequences for the health and welfare of a countries citizens. Maybe it really is about reducing the Earth’s population? Very sinister people and groups are behind this and in its wake we all will be affected. Unless some technological breakthrough occurs, the cleanest option is… Read more »
Green Energy is a Scam. MISO isn’t close to being ready… states bickering about who pays for what. Pritzker will no doubt benefit financially from all this because he doesn’t push anything unless he profits.
When I thought the list of reasons to depart Illinois was long enough, add CEJA to it. Just 60 more days and Illinois will be in my rear view mirror. Pritzker is the captain of the Titanic and I’m bailing out.
Welcome to life outside of the socialist utopia. Now, instead of dreading the future, you can embrace it. Congrats.
All that debt, all that corruption, greed, crime …….not your problem anymore.
Congrats on gaining your freedom!
I guess that’s why they use the term reimagine, rather than rethink. They don’t actually think anything through. Ideology over reality every time.
California: Buy an EV
Also California: Don’t charge your EV
Does Gavin Newsom not see the irony? Do the voters also not see the irony? What a virtual signaling joke.
Remember that during the CA recall vote they approved keeping this mope in office by a wide margin – 62%. Wonders never cease…!!!
It is very scary. So many Republicans have left the state and it’s attracted leftist immigrants.
There’s no irony. It’s supposed to be this way. You are the carbon they wish to reduce.