S.B. 25 – “Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act.” Affordable? Hardly

President Joe Biden's signature climate law, the inaptly named 2022 "Inflation Reduction Act," provided tax credits and other incentives to help accelerate the transition to alternative sources of energy like wind and solar. Illinois was expected to receive approximately $1 billion through the law. But the federal incentives didn't last long. On July 4, 2025, the President signed H.R. 1 (the "One Big Beautiful Bill"), which ended those tax credits. But remember, those credits weren't meant for the average taxpayer. They were directed to renewable energy developers, large corporations in the manufacturing and energy sectors, and higher-income consumers purchasing EVs or solar panels. Key beneficiaries included companies using the investment or production tax credits, and auto manufacturers like Tesla. They weren't meant to cut your taxes.

In the face of that news, Illinois said, "hold my beer" and doubled down with the passage of Senate Bill 25 (the "Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act"), which checks in with an estimated cost to Illinois taxpayers and electricity ratepayers of $8.1 billion. Among the myriad of provisions that promise to hasten the advent of our environmental utopia are extended subsidies to the rent-seeking environmental lobby for battery storage and "energy efficiency" programs. I'm going to focus on the battery storage feature of this bill, because it's going to have a direct impact on the people in the 63^rd District.

Illinois electric bills increased 15% during 2025, and CRGA will do nothing but further increase electric bills for Illinois residents and businesses because the money needed to build 3 GW of battery storage by 2030 has to come from somewhere. And get this: the bill passed without capping costs for battery storage projects and furthermore allows for expenses to be passed on to consumers.

To finance the buildout, Illinois ratepayers will face a surcharge on their electricity bills beginning in 2030. An analysis from the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), which manages how the state procures its electricity supply, found the program will cost approximately $1 billion to execute, which is like flying blind when there are no caps on development costs, so how do they know? But the IPA also estimates the project will save consumers more than $13 billion over 20 years. Again, how are they in any position to know what electric demand is going to be in 20 years? I wouldn't get on any airplane where the IPA is sitting in the pilot's seat.

In addition, the bill would create a new "integrated resource plan" process, which is shorthand for saying that local government control over approval and siting of battery facilities will be subject to review and override by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). If local governments deny an application, that denial can be appealed to the ICC which will rubber stamp its approval. Once local control is taken away, good luck ever getting it back.

So once again, you have the very same government that's screaming about "affordability" saying that your short-term costs are going up so that you can "save" a few bucks 20 years from now, with no guarantee that it will ever happen. It's government telling you that "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today". We know how well that's worked with all the similar promises to save money that never seem to materialize.

We're now facing the prospect of having a battery facility built right here in McHenry County, and there are a lot of questions that need answers. I'm going to split this conversation up into two more installments so I can focus on problems with the technology and then talk about the company making the application. Talk to you soon.