Carbondale Reporter

State Sen. Dale Fowler  (R-Harrisburg) views the recent passage of Senate Bill 2408 as a lost opportunity for the state in terms of putting its energy industry on the right track.

“This energy proposal was an opportunity to recognize the importance of our coal industry and work collaboratively to establish an energy package that would protect jobs, safeguard Illinois’ energy portfolio and ensure we have reliable energy for Illinoisans," Fowler said in a press release. "Disappointingly, the opportunity was missed and it will have costly consequences for Illinoisans”

Instead, Fowler laments that the bill is destined to be better known for including a large-sized utility rate increase.

“This energy proposal overlooks the reliability that coal provides to Illinois’ energy portfolio, relying instead on massive subsidies for wind and solar while placing a target on our privately-owned coal plants,” he said. “The energy package also includes a dangerous eminent domain provision that threatens landowners and is a direct assault on our state’s agricultural sector. This isn’t real comprehensive energy policy. This is an attack on our coal industry that will undoubtedly bring about the greatest energy rate hike in Illinois history, eliminate jobs and will hurt the future of our state.”

Fowler isn’t the only Republican lawmaker sounding an alarm bell.

“This legislation is nothing but a goodie bag for special interests,” said state Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), noting that the bill includes a $200 million energy transformation tax increase and a $700 million-plus bailout for northern Illinois nuclear power company ComEd and Exelon.

Niemerg fears that’s only the start.

“The cost of electricity will go up and, in some areas, it will go up dramatically thanks to the arbitrary timetable to reduce carbon emissions by 2035,” he said. “What happens in Illinois is not going to make one iota of a difference in terms of solving the climate change debate.”

Niemerg further argues that the measure abuses private property rights by allowing Invenergy to use eminent domain to strip private citizens of their property in at least seven counties with the goal of building a single transmission line.

“This bill represents everything that is wrong in Illinois,” he said. “As usual, the influence peddlers and special interests win big at the expense of the rest of us. Our energy policy should be guided by the need to maintain access to affordable and reliable energy for our residents and our businesses and this bill does the exact opposite.”