The Midwest continues to develop a path forward on clean energy by implementing legislative wins from late last year. Both Illinois and Michigan passed state laws that incentivize the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The two-year freeze on Ohio’s state energy efficiency and renewable standard also expired.
Members of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, which E2 helped to coordinate the business subgroup, have been participating in a variety of stakeholder groups to design a statewide solar program and to work on an energy efficiency program as part of the Future Energy Jobs Act that E2, NRDC and other groups helped get passed into law late last year. There have also been many educational workshops on the state’s new and improved renewable portfolio standard. All these changes translate into positive economic growth for Illinois as investments are made in clean energy. This will also lead to more clean energy employment opportunities and help Illinois remain top in the region for clean energy jobs.
The E2 Midwest Chapter also submitted comments to the Illinois Commerce Commission as it develops a process called NextGrid that’s designed to drive further energy improvements for the state. In our comments, E2 emphasized the need for businesses to be involved in discussions about Illinois’ clean energy future and the significant economic potential clean energy can bring to the state.
This summer, the Midwest chapter will continue to highlight the economic benefits of clean energy by working with partners to update our groundbreaking Clean Jobs Midwest report and to publish detailed clean energy maps for the states of Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and Michigan. These maps will include locations of clean energy businesses and details on the state’s renewable energy generation capacity, and will be used to help further our and our partners’ advocacy for clean energy in the state.