Lawmakers and environmental interests Thursday announced a bill to address Gov. JB Pritzker’s goal of Illinois being on 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.
That includes decarbonization by 2030. Jen Walling (pictured), executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council, says coal is on its way out.
“When you look at the power sector, you look at coal plants that are already closing because of market forces,” she said. “You look at Vistra, which has already said there are three or four coal plants that are closing even without contemplation of this bill.”
The goals are ambitious. “For renewables, they only work about a third of the time,” said Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association. “There’s got to be some solution to get it to 100 percent, and I didn’t hear that today.”
The “Future Energy Jobs Act” is promoted as building on the “Clean Energy Jobs Act,” signed into law in 2016.
