The Center Square: Push for More Illinois Battery Storage Underway, Subsidy Cost Not Known
The Center Square reports that State Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) and Rep. Marcus Evans (D-Chicago) filed Senate Bill 2497, which aims to create 15-gigawatt battery storage facilities to store wind and solar energy across the state. United’s Samarth Medakkar spoke at a press conference to push for more energy storage solutions to meet rising energy demand and reduce electricity costs for Illinois’ residents.
(The Center Square) – Some state legislators are aiming to allow for more battery storage in Illinois to capture and store solar and wind energy, but others are pushing back saying coal is more reliable.
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, filed Senate Bill 2497 to allow for 15 gigawatt battery storage facilities to store wind and solar energy across the state.
“Illinois energy demands will outpace our supply as early as 2030,” Cunningham said during a news conference at the capitol. “Battery storage is needed to reduce that probability and the expense.”
Cunningham said it wasn’t premature for the state to pass a law aiming to close most coal-fired power plants by 2030 and all of them by 2045.
Illinois state Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, and Samarth Medakkar from Advanced Energy United, discuss a push for more battery storage facilities. Separately, state Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, reacts.
SB 2497 remains in the Senate Assignments Committee. House Bill 3758, from state Rep. Marcus Evans, Jr., D-Chicago, remains in the House Rules Committee.
Read the full article here.