Add permitting reform to energy advances

Passage in Springfield last month of comprehensive energy legislation is a welcome sign for people coping with high electricity bills and the effects of climate change.

Besides funding large batteries to store electricity from solar and wind generation, the bill also provides funds for community geothermal energy, increases subsidies for energy saving measures in homes and repeals the moratorium on new large nuclear reactor construction, which has been on the books for more than three decades.

Taken together, the energy-related elements go a long way toward helping to wean us off planet-warming fossil fuels, while also ensuring that we can capture for 24-hour use the electricity produced from intermittent wind and solar sources. Gov. JB Pritzker released a statement saying that the legislation, dubbed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, is “an important step that will help lower utility bills and make our electrical grid stronger.”

The grid also can be bolstered with clean energy permitting reform, for which the national climate policy group I work with continues to advocate. Reforming clean energy permitting provides an opportunity to cut climate pollution and deliver more electricity where and when it is needed. Our current slow and outdated permitting processes at the federal level mean that building out more reliable and cleaner forms of energy happens at a snail’s pace. Consequently, we’re stuck with older, less healthy energy sources while better clean energy options are stalled and delayed.

Kudos to state lawmakers for putting a much-needed energy bill on Gov. Pritzker’s desk. We also need to urge our congressional delegation to work across the aisle to pass clean energy permitting reform. Getting clean energy projects up and running faster will also support the state’s goal to end by 2050 the use of coal and natural gas to generate electricity.

Joe Tedino

Chicago