ANALYSIS: Energy bill fact checks needed after first Bailey-Pritzker forum
By JERRY NOWICKI
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – There was a lot to unpack at Wednesday’s candidate forum which saw Gov. JB Pritzker and his Republican challenger state Sen. Darren Bailey appear on the same stage, albeit at different times, for the first time this campaign season.
For starters, I wrote an article earlier this week fact-checking the governor’s claim that eminent domain language was removed from the final 2021 energy bill known as the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. That law, which Pritzker signed, contained a provision giving a private transmission line that authority in seven counties.
Now it’s time to fact check his challenger, too.
“I had several counties in my district two weeks ago that went through a three-hour brownout,” Bailey told a crowd of farmers at Schuler Farms in Lexington. “First time ever. It’s coming. It’s preventable.”
Except there’s no evidence that brownouts have occurred anywhere in Illinois.
And when I asked the Bailey campaign for more specifics on which counties had seen blackouts, they responded only with a statement calling Pritzker’s energy policies extreme.
Yesterday, the Capitol Fax blog appeared to be the first outlet to look into Bailey’s claim, unearthing an unbylined Aug. 5 article posted to a website that’s part of an infamous “pay-to-print” network historically tied to right-wing candidates.
Bailey was heavily quoted in the “article” that noted White and Wayne counties had experienced a three-hour brownout on July 30. Capitol Fax reported that the Wayne-White Counties Electrical Co-op had no such “brownout” event, although there might have been storm-related outages. I called them up and was told the same.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, is the federally-regulated regional transmission organization that serves 15 states including most of Illinois outside of the Chicago area.
The grid operator told me they had no knowledge of any “brownouts,” which is a term it does not use.
“As of Friday, August 26, MISO has been in normal operating conditions for the entire month,” a spokesperson said. “None of our emergency operating conditions this summer have resulted in power interruptions.”
How energy gets from the grid to the home is immensely complicated.
To sum up a portion of it, MISO procures energy capacity each year, which is a promise that generators can put a certain amount of energy online during the grid’s peak demand hours.
Threats of brownouts entered the mainstream discussion when MISO’s capacity auction came up 1,230 megawatts short for the 2022-2023 year, contributing to load concerns and higher downstate energy prices.
What that means for reliability, according to the company’s analysis, is that the “loss of load expectation” – a measure of how long, on average, that available generation capacity is likely to fall short of load demand – for the subregion that includes Illinois increased from the annual target of 0.1 day per year to 0.179 day per year.
The target is 0.1, not 0, because there will always be a possibility that electricity use exceeds the available capacity, even in “normal” years.
At a 3-hour committee hearing in May, lawmakers heard testimony from energy experts that surprise out-of-state fossil fuel retirements were the main driver of the capacity shortfall this year, as CEJA’s decarbonization measures have not yet taken effect.
Those measures include massive subsidies for renewable and nuclear energy and mandates that fossil fuel generators go offline by 2045 – although state regulators can override those dates in the event of load concerns.
While the likelihood of load interruptions increased only slightly this year, MISO warned at the May committee that as more fossil fuel plants go offline, the likelihood could increase in future years if new generators like renewables or battery storage aren’t put online quickly enough.
“MISO believes it’s likely to get worse before it gets better,” Melissa Seymour, MISO’s vice president of external affairs, told the House committee in May. “Unless more capacity is built, especially capacity able to reliably generate during tight system conditions, the shortfalls we experienced this year will continue to get worse moving forward.”
Some of CEJA’s main backers in the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition have pointed the finger at MISO, noting at a July news conference that there are 6,000 megawatts of transmission projects in the RTO’s “queue” that are awaiting approval to begin the process of hooking it into the grid.
Pritzker suggested the same at Wednesday’s ag forum.
“MISO has fallen down on the job,” he said. “That’s why Illinois had to pick up the pace in solar and wind and make sure that we’re producing more energy, not less. That is what the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act does. It helps us produce more energy.”
In a statement to Capitol News Illinois in July, MISO said it understands the urgency of putting new power on the grid and it had even more than 6,000 megawatts in the works.
“Currently, MISO is processing 95 generator interconnection queue requests for the state of Illinois (totaling over 15,000 megawatts), which is 12 percent of the total requests MISO has received for the entire 15-state footprint,” spokesperson Brandon Morris said in a July email. “MISO is and continues to be ‘on the job’ of ensuring reliability is maintained while managing through this unprecedented number of unique requests to connect new resources.”
MISO and its member states, Morris said, also recently worked to reduce the amount of time it takes for a generator to connect to the MISO grid, earning praise from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
A few days after their news conference, CEJA backers praised planned transmission upgrades from MISO, noting “they must move faster to approve these renewable energy projects that will bring down prices and improve grid reliability.”
Another possibility is that generators who have been bidding into northern Illinois capacity markets see the higher premiums being paid downstate and decide they’ll sell their capacity commitments elsewhere.
Given the complexity of energy generation, those are just a few of numerous factors that will determine whether “brownouts” go from abstract political talking point to reality in Illinois and elsewhere.
Jerry Nowicki is the bureau Chief of Capitol News Illinois, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Local News
One thing is certain: life goes on
Spread the love. Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 . I get a lot of calls from residents who are discouraged about our neighborhood. There are so many car accidents, shootings and violent crimes being committed in West Lawn and surrounding areas. It certainly is challenging to stay hopeful and positive. Here is a paragraph…
Biz groups battle over names, logos
Spread the love. UBAM, MCC trade barbs . By Dermot Connolly and Tim Hadac The leader of one Midway-area business association is accusing the other of bad faith, and the leader of the other is scratching her head over the dustup. United Business Association of Midway Executive Director Anita Cummings recently claimed that a rival…
Chicago Lawn native’s book is ‘off the hook’
Spread the love. Longtime journalist shares humor columns . By Tim Hadac Nancy (Emerson) Besonen has made a career as a news reporter and humor columnist for a weekly paper in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. But her roots are in Chicago Lawn, and it showed during a recent conversation. Like most true Southwest Siders, she didn’t…
Softball | Oak Lawn’s Kasey Jackson fans 5 in loss to Shepard
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Oak Lawn entered its South Suburban Conference matchup with Shepard having won six of its last seven games. The Astros — even hotter with seven straight victories after beginning the season with three consecutive losses — cooled off the Spartans (8-5, 4-2 SSC) for a day, winning 3-0 behind…
Softball | Shepard blanks Oak Lawn behind CG from Kailey Selvage, 2 RBI from Madison Scapardine
Spread the loveBy Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Temperatures are not the only thing starting to warm up in the Southwest Suburbs. Shepard, which began the season with three consecutive losses, defeated Oak Lawn, 3-0, on April 15 to run its winning streak to seven games. Astros junior pitcher Kailey Selvage tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out…
‘Horrific and unacceptable’
Spread the love. Police, neighbors decry shooting at family party . By Tim Hadac Drive-by shootings have become not at all unusual in recent years in Back of the Yards. Some might even call them common. What is still uncommon is for drive-by crimes to injure or even kill young children. But that is exactly…
A blue salute in Scottsdale
Spread the love. Family, friends, co-workers and neighbors of the late CPD Officer James R. Svec Jr. –as well as elected and appointed officials– gathered at 77th and Kolmar last Saturday to unveil an honorary street sign saluting him for his sacrifice. Officer Svec died at age 59 in December 2021 from causes related to…
County vets offer reduced-price vax clinics
Spread the love. From staff reports The Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control is running its annual Partners in Prevention clinics now through mid-October. ARC is partnering with local animal organizations to offer reduced-cost or free one-year rabies vaccinations, as well as microchips. The partnerships are designed to link pet owners to organizations…
Twisted Shamrock hosts Masters-inspired fun
Spread the love. The drive from Chicago to Augusta, Ga. (home of the 2024 Masters professional golf tournament) is more than 800 miles, but those unwilling to make the trek recently had the option of simply heading over to Twisted Shamrock Pub, 6462 S. Central, for some Masters-inspired fun on Sunday, April 14. Both golfers…
St. Laurence grad Brett Buzzelli hurling for Carroll
Spread the loveBy Mike Walsh Correspondent Carroll University senior right-hander Brett Buzzelli has been named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin’s Pitcher of the Week for April 8. Buzzelli was the winning pitcher in an 8-3 victory over visiting Elmhurst University in Game 1 of a CCIW doubleheader. The St. Laurence graduate tossed seven…
Neighbors
Pols want 63rd St. armory for new police HQ
Spread the love. Porfirio, Guerrero-Cuellar push plan in Springfield . By Tim Hadac Any plans the Chicago Department of Aviation may have had for the vacant Army National Guard Midway Armory, 5400 W. 63rd St., may be grounded, at least for now. Several elected officials are eyeing the parcel as the headquarters of a new…
Her back against the wall, Stacy needs help
Spread the love. By Tim Hadac Editor Clear-Ridge Reporter & NewsHound (708)-496-0265 . Clearing and Garfield Ridge have earned a reputation as a place where people look out for each other—and that sometimes means caring for each other in times of need. Today, I want to talk about one such person, who sure could use…
It’s (pizza) party time at OLS
Spread the love. Third graders at Our Lady of the Snows School break into cheers as they learn they’ve won a pizza party for selling more raffle booklets than any other class. The recent Grand Raffle fundraiser brought in about $6,000. Parents looking for a grade school for their sons and daughters for 2024-25 are…
Dart wants free mental health care for first responders
Spread the love. From staff reports The Illinois Senate has passed legislation proposed by Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart that eliminates out-of-pocket expenses for first responders seeking mental health treatment. “We ask first responders to be constantly exposed to traumatic and dangerous situations to protect us,” Dart said. “This legislation is a solid step…
Volunteers give Palos Heights a spring cleaning
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Palos Heights works hard to keep its city beautiful. Gathering residents together for a day of cleaning and fun was the Palos Heights Green Team with a Clean Up Day on April 13. “This event invited everyone in our community to do their part in combating pollution by having a…
Hunt man who tried to rob Chase Bank
Spread the love. FBI looking for tips from public . From staff reports FBI officials are appealing to the public for help in finding a man who attempted to rob a Southwest Side bank branch. The bandit tried to rob the Chase Bank branch at 5687 S. Archer (just west of Laramie) at about 11…
Casten lauds Biden for ‘clean energy’ move
Spread the love. From staff reports A move designed to spur the responsible development of clean energy on America’s public lands was recently lauded by U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-6th). The congressman, co-chairman of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Clean Energy Deployment Task Force, joined by co-chairman Mike Levin (D-Calif.), released a…
E-Notary makes things easier, Giannoulias says
Spread the love. From staff reports Illinois residents will no longer have to notarize documents in person under a new Electronic-Notary system administered by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office. Electronic Notarization, or “E-Notary,” will radically change the way people and use notary services, Giannoulias predicted. Without leaving the home or office, an individual or…
Oak Lawn honor Fire and Public Safety Contest winners
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle The Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce presented awards to the winners of the 2023 Fire and Public Safety Coloring Book Contest at the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting on April 9. Fire Bureau Chief David Wheeler and Police Chief Daniel Vittoro were on hand to present the plaques, along with Oak…
Rashid scolds TV news orgs on climate change
Spread the love. From staff reports State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-21st) recently scolded major news organizations for what he called a lack of attention to climate change. “Last year was marked by alarming climate extremes, from record-breaking heat waves to devastating floods, droughts and wildfires,” Rashid wrote earlier this month in a letter to his…