Illinois would target 3 GW of battery storage by 2030 under a bill passed by the state legislature. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has issued a statement in support of the bill and is expected to sign it.
The Power Bureau, a consulting firm, projected net customer savings from the added batteries at $12 billion over 20 years, based on data from a cost-benefit analysis by the Illinois Power Agency.
The net customer savings would result because the added batteries would reduce capacity costs by $13 billion over 20 years for Illinois customers in the PJM and MISO grid regions, while “incentive costs paid by consumers” would be $1 billion over 20 years, The Power Bureau said, for a 13-1 return on investment.
Under the bill, titled “Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act,” the Illinois Power Agency must conduct procurements in 2027 and 2028 that result in electric utilities contracting for 3 GW of energy storage projects, with the aim that projects will reach commercial operation by year-end 2030.
The bill directs the IPA to conduct additional energy storage procurements from 2028 to 2030 if the state’s integrated resource planning process authorizes energy storage procurement amounts above the 3 GW initially procured.
Expanded transmission
The bill also requires a state commission to update the state’s renewable energy access plan to consider advanced transmission technologies and other ways to expand transmission, to enable more renewables on the grid.
The updated plan must identify all elements of the existing transmission system that have experienced capacity constraints or congestion in the prior two years and “explain whether any advanced transmission technology could reduce or resolve” such constraints.
The revised plan must include a recommended list of transmission projects and advanced transmission technology projects “that achieve” the state’s clean energy public policy objectives, the bill says.
Virtual power plant
The bill provides that certain owners of distributed storage may apply for a rebate of $250 per kWh of storage capacity, on condition that they participate for five years in a virtual power plant program with scheduled energy dispatch to be established by a state commission. Compensation to participants will be at least $10 per kW of average dispatch during the scheduled dispatch hours, paid each year.
Broad support
A broad coalition campaigned for passage of the bill, including the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Clean Grid Alliance, Advanced Energy United, and the Coalition for Community Solar Access.
The bill, which runs to 1,021 pages, includes many other clean energy provisions.
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