CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz spoke at the signing ceremony for the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act, legislation designed to help protect Illinois consumers from future power price volatility.
The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act was signed into law on Thursday–as tens of millions of electric customers in Illinois and across the nation grapple with spiking power prices.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, legislative leaders, government staffers and environmental and consumer advocates gathered at Joliet Junior College for the bill-signing.
Electricity prices for millions of customers have been elevated since last June, thanks to soaring energy demand sparked by data centers and poor policy from regional power grid operators. The high prices were even more devastating for customers because of multiple heat waves that slammed Illinois residents last summer. Some saw triple-digit increases on their power bills.
For years, CUB has been advocating for reforms at the state and federal levels, and at regional power grid operators PJM Interconnection and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
The solutions are complex–multiple steps are needed to protect power customers–but when the CRGA Act passed last October, CUB called it “a significant and urgently needed step to protect consumers from future electricity market volatility.” Among many pro-consumer provisions, the
CRGA Act will expand energy efficiency programs and bring more battery storage to the grid. It also includes innovative programs to help bring down power prices, such as optional time-of-use rates and virtual power plants. (Read more about key provisions in the CRGA Act.)
At Thursday’s bill-signing ceremony, CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said CRGA is about Illinois deploying tools that help everyday electric customers secure clean, affordable energy. “Tools like energy efficiency, battery storage, virtual power plants, optional time-of-use electric rates will help individuals save on their own power bills, while also working on a system-wide level to cost-effectively help us avoid electric price volatility in the future,” Moskowitz said.
CUB’s Sarah Moskowitz talks with Gov. Pritzker about improving PJM policy.
Electricity prices are expected to be elevated over the next couple of years, and if more reforms aren’t undertaken, customers face even higher bills. Moskowitz, whose CUB team spent the summer talking to weary electric customers stressed out about their power bills, told the crowd while CRGA is a big step forward, there’s a lot more work to do: “Alas, we are not done. We are never done.” CUB is determined to pass additional reforms in future legislative sessions to make sure electric customers aren’t being burdened by unfair data center costs. The consumer watchdog is also working for better data center policy at the PJM grid operator, through its Consumers for a Better Grid campaign.
Still, the CRGA Act is major progress. Thanking the governor, legislative leaders, and advocates with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, Moskowitz said: “CUB was created over 40 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. But what hasn’t changed is our state’s willingness and ability to think creatively, act boldly, and do what it takes to meet our challenges head on. And that’s what this legislation represents.” (Watch Sarah speak on Facebook.)
