Rauner says he’s ‘proud’ of Exelon subsidy to spare 2 plants

It would limit legislators to 10 years of service in the General Assembly, and the Governor and other constitutional officers would be limited to eight years of service.

The bill will now go to Gov. Rauner (R) for his signature, which is expected. Exelon was however, able to salvage it after it allowed a concession, letting the bill take effect next June, which required a lower vote threshold than if it had become effective immediately. As of Friday morning, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan had not scheduled a special session for an override vote.

Exelon predictably praised the bill.

The plan is embraced by environmentalists because it requires energy distributors such as Exelon subsidiary ComEd to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in energy-efficiency programs to reduce usage and spare the environment.

Kelly said the bill “essentially authorizes another property tax hike on the people of Chicago and sets a funding cliff five years out without any assurances that the city can meet its obligations”. The bill caps the increase at that level.

Agneta Rising, director-general of the World Nuclear Association, said the bill would ensure continued operation of the Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear plants, providing clean and reliable electricity as part of a package of measures created to boost a range of low-carbon energy technologies.

However, attempts to pass mandatory demand charges on all residential or solar-only customers have largely failed to date.

The odyssey of what eventually became the Future Energy Jobs Bill, SB 2814, started about two years ago and has had many twists and turns.

IL is the second U.S. state to pass legislation explicitly recognising the contribution of nuclear power plants to clean energy efforts. “This bill is a great example of IL being a leader in looking out for clean energy”. IL retailers have always been an advocate for competitive energy policy and today was an important step towards our state’s energy future. “By voting in favor of this important legislation, the Illinois General Assembly has demonstrated commendable foresight in terms of protecting valuable environmental and economic benefits for the state’s residents”, it said.

Consumer groups oppose the plan as a bailout to save unnecessary nuclear plants. “This bill includes elements of hard compromise, but ultimately this is a tremendous victory for IL”.

“Competition in the IL energy field is very strong and we’ve benefited from low rates”, McDermed said.

Chris Crane, president and CEO of Exelon, praised the final version of the bill as well.

The revised proposal also retains key provisions to preserve 4,200 jobs at Exelon’s Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants; which Exelon had informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last June that it planned to retire, unless it received support from the legislation.