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As long-distance transmission line capacity emerges as a bottleneck for Illinois’ clean energy transition, state lawmakers and advocates are drafting legislation to establish state incentives for power line projects.
One proposal under consideration would allow independent transmission developers to access subsidies through the state’s Renewable Energy Credit (RECs) program, the same mechanism that has fueled the state’s solar boom.
“Merchant transmission developers are essentially building a road — generators pay to put their electricity on that road and send it to customers,” said James Gignac, Midwest senior policy manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a member of the coalition working with legislators on an energy bill building on 2017’s Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA.
The Illinois legislation being prepared for this spring’s session would create another source of revenue for such projects, lowering the cost burden on wind and solar developers looking for a more direct route to power customers. Unlike projects funded by utility ratepayers, merchant lines do not need to go through the lengthy planning and financing process overseen by regional grid operators such as MISO and PJM.
“These [high voltage, direct current] lines can serve a different purpose,” Gignac said. “It’s an overlay or additional feature of the transmission system. They can provide important benefits that supplement the [regional transmission organization] plan.”
CEJA mandates that almost all of the state’s fossil fuel generation cease by 2045. Especially with the boom in data centers, some are worried Illinois won’t be able to meet its energy needs with renewables and nuclear if coal and gas plants close.
“Transmission is a huge part of the equation, it will be important in helping us take inefficient coal and gas plants off-line, and it will help bring on extraordinary amounts of clean energy,” said Christine Nannicelli, Sierra Club Beyond Coal senior campaign representative.
In December, MISO, which manages the grid for most of Illinois and a large part of the central U.S. spanning from the Dakotas to the Gulf Coast, approved a batch of 24 long-distance transmission projects on top of 18 interregional transmission lines approved in 2022. But these lines will likely take a decade or more to build, given lengthy bureaucratic processes.
Merchant lines can be constructed much more quickly, as they do not need to be studied and deemed necessary through the regional transmission organization process. They just need to be interconnected to the regional grid system, as well as receive certain approvals in the states they pass through. Illinois advocates have also proposed that legislation designate merchant lines as public utilities, giving them an easier path to eminent domain powers.
Merchant lines including the Grain Belt Express, which would stretch from Kansas through Missouri to the Illinois-Indiana border, have faced opposition from landowners concerned about the routes and eminent domain. Merchant lines also introduce competition for utility companies, which have pushed for legislation in various states to limit such competition.
Some advocates argue competition can be good for ratepayers and the environment. Merchant lines could bring renewable power into Illinois from other states, and also make it easier for new renewables to be built in Illinois and connected to the grid. There can be long delays for new wind and solar farms to get approval to be connected to the MISO grid. These renewables could connect to merchant lines without delay.
Grain Belt Express developer Invenergy, based in Chicago, is among the backers of a transmission incentive bill.
Another merchant transmission line seeking to deliver power to Illinois is SOO Green, a proposed 350-mile underground cable between Iowa and Illinois following a railroad right-of-way.
Both projects would facilitate sharing power between MISO and PJM grids, a necessity especially as extreme weather events increase, experts say. Last May, the two organizations for the first time agreed to coordinate on their long-range planning,
The Clean Grid Alliance, a national organization, advocates for grid expansion both through the regional transmission organizations’ planning processes, and through merchant lines. The alliance supported a proposal during the last Illinois legislative session that would have created RECs for merchant transmission. Clean Grid Alliance vice president of advocacy Jeff Danielson said he does not know of any other states that have created RECs for this purpose.
“We encourage states to help in any way possible to get the electric interstate superhighway built,” said Danielson. “It really is up to the states to secure their own economic future around a resilient and commerce-friendly grid. Whether it’s a REC concept, direct power purchase agreements, permitting reform, we encourage all of it. We literally need to build the transmission everywhere all at once.”
Since projects like Grain Belt Express and SOO Green cover multiple states, it may seem unfair for one state to carry more of the financial burden by offering subsidies. But Danielson said that may be necessary to tip the balance and make sure transmission gets built; and other states should follow Illinois’s lead.
“There’s the idea it will just get built,” without state action, Danielson said. “But it won’t, it hasn’t. Merchant lines are incredibly difficult to build. A governor has to understand the value to his state, his colleagues in other states have to understand this is what’s going to drive economic growth. Every time they’re in a meeting they should be saying, ‘We have to get to yes.’ It’s a shared opportunity and shared responsibility.”
A March 2024 study by the Illinois Power Agency estimated that credits for the SOO Green line would cost ratepayers $430 million per year, while reducing utility bills to save them $178 million per year. The line would also add $414 million in economic benefit to the state’s economy, the agency found.
The Laborers’ International Union of North America is among the labor unions supporting a transmission-incentives bill. The union’s Midwest governmental affairs director, Sean Stott, noted that Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express, for example, is projected to create 1,500 construction jobs in central Illinois.
“They’ve made a commitment to employing residents of central Illinois to do that work, including members of the Laborers union,” he said. “Any time you do that, you’ll have money in the pockets of workers. It would definitely generate a significant amount of economic activity in the local community.”
He doesn’t think union members would resent the additional charges on electric bills to fund transmission incentives.
“There are no free lunches in life, there would be a small charge, however they would receive by virtue of an influx of lower-cost power, downward pressure on their electric bills,” he said.
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association also supports such legislation.
“We’ve seen warnings for the last couple years both in PJM and MISO of potential brown-outs,” said association president Mark Denzler. “When there are challenges, the first folks they ask to reduce load are industries. Transmission projects are one place where the state has the ability to work on making sure we have reliability.”
The legislation might also include a component known as “next generation highways,” allowing transmission lines to be co-located with highways, a situation currently prohibited under Illinois law. Minnesota last year passed similar legislation.
“We want to at least allow utilities the option to consider that,” said Gignac. “It’s something states can do, allowing some flexibility in the location of transmission lines.”
Danielson framed the relationship to highways as symbolic on a larger level.
“We have never thought about our grid in an integrated interstate commerce way like we thought about the highway system in the 1950s, and we really need to,” he said. “Because resilience to weather events and connecting economies through clean energy and 24-7 internet commerce are going to be the reasons Midwest states and the U.S. in general are going to be an economic leader in the future.”
GRID: An Ohio progressive watchdog group raises concerns about the proliferation of data centers in the state, including their potential to spike energy demand and prolong the use of fossil fuels. (Ohio Capital Journal)
ALSO: Utilities, renewable energy companies and ratepayer advocates say PJM’s proposal to require renewable and storage projects in the interconnection queue to participate in capacity market auctions was developed with inadequate input. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES:
COAL: North Dakota officials threaten to sue the U.S. EPA for withholding action on the state’s application to regulate its own coal waste as a dispute continues over a waste management plan at the state’s largest coal plant. (Bismarck Tribune, subscription)
CLIMATE: Des Moines, Iowa, residents criticize city leaders’ decision to lay off the staff of the city’s sustainability office to help close a budget deficit, calling the move shortsighted. (KCCI)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Michigan State Police deploys its first all-electric vehicle that will be used for providing security at state-owned buildings around the state capital. (WOOD-TV8)
OVERSIGHT: U.S. Senate lawmakers delay the interior secretary confirmation hearing of former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for two days to give a government ethics office more time to review the nomination. (States Newsroom)
CLEAN ENERGY:
EFFICIENCY: Ameren Missouri starts offering $75 million in rebates and incentives for new customer energy efficiency and demand response programs. (Daily Energy Insider)
CLEAN ENERGY: President Biden issues an executive order allowing data centers to lease public land, on the condition their facilities are powered with new clean energy resources. (E&E News)
ALSO:
OVERSIGHT: Trump’s nominees for the EPA and Interior and Energy departments are expected to face tough questioning from Democratic senators during confirmation hearings this week. (E&E News)
FOSSIL FUELS:
COAL: Federal regulators propose permitting Montana’s largest coal mine to expand and increase production by about 19 million tons. (Montana Free Press)
GRID: Utilities, renewable energy companies and ratepayer advocates say PJM’s proposal to require renewable and storage projects in the interconnection queue to participate in capacity market auctions was developed with inadequate input. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR: Solar customers and installers are rushing to complete projects before President-elect Trump’s inauguration, citing uncertainty about tariffs and federal incentives. (NPR)
OFFSHORE WIND: A Maryland county government is revealed to be behind an anti-wind website that appeared last month shortly before a Delaware county held a key vote rejecting an offshore wind substation. (Spotlight Delaware)
BUILDINGS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Michigan State Police deploys its first all-electric vehicle that will be used for providing security at state-owned buildings around the state capital. (WOOD-TV8)
GRID: The future of Biden administration initiatives to spur transmission construction is in question as Republicans take over Congress and the White House, though utilities, state regulators and private investors could use growing power demand to make a case for continued expansion. (E&E News, Canary Media)
ALSO:
EMISSIONS:
RENEWABLES: Texas is the top state for renewable energy generation and battery capacity as of the end of 2024, ranking first for wind and solar and second behind California for battery capacity. (Reuters)
COAL: Rocky Mountain Power cancels several Wyoming coal plants’ previously scheduled retirements, but plans to convert some of the units to run on natural gas. (Cowboy State Daily)
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
NUCLEAR: As New York faces rising power demand and the need to lower greenhouse gas emissions, it’s taking a serious look at the possibilities of advanced nuclear power plants. (Inside Climate News)
CLEAN ENERGY: A decades-long local government collaboration in southwestern Minnesota helps 18 counties manage clean energy development and avoid controversies and misinformation that have affected projects in other parts of the country. (Energy News Network)
GRID: Google partners with a climate investor and a clean energy developer to build renewable power and storage projects co-located with data centers, with a goal of reducing the centers’ anticipated demand on the grid. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
POLITICS:
CLIMATE: Expressing concern for the state’s fossil fuel industries, two Pennsylvania lawmakers say they plan legislation to remove the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and require legislative approval for future agreements. (Indiana Gazette)
WIND: A labor leader says Maine should reach out to other states to help support a deepwater port for offshore wind construction, after multiple attempts to secure federal funds have failed. (Maine Public)
STORAGE: A Georgia company announces that its battery recycling facility will produce and market lithium carbonate — an important component in electric vehicle batteries that until now has only been mined. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
EFFICIENCY: Milwaukee officials seek local manufacturing of highly efficient wall panels for prefabricated homes to resolve challenges of building net-zero modular homes for low-income residents. (Energy News Network)
GRID: Oklahoma’s incoming state house speaker tells a crowd the U.S. Energy Department has agreed to cancel the designation of a corridor across the state for a planned 645-mile transmission line due to widespread opposition from the community and elected officials. (KOSU, KOTV)
WIND: Texas shrimpers say they’re frustrated after a community meeting about a planned offshore wind farm ended less than five minutes after it began when the company representative left the room without answering questions. (KBMT)
SOLAR: A study finds nearly 30,000 Floridians installed solar panels in 2024 despite utility and political pushback against net metering, and that Florida could be on track to become the top-ranked residential solar state by 2028. (WUSF)
NUCLEAR: The U.S. Energy Department sets a ceiling of $3.4 billion over the next decade to spend on six companies in Tennessee to develop low-enriched uranium for nuclear reactors. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
STORAGE: A Texas energy storage company partners with a national homebuilder to add batteries to houses in 15 communities in the state. (San Antonio Express-News)
OIL & GAS:
OVERSIGHT:
PIPELINES: A September vehicle crash that resulted in a natural gas pipeline explosion raises awareness about the danger of above-ground gas transmission pipelines and their vulnerability to collisions. (Houston Landing)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
POLITICS: Louisiana Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy cultivates support for a bill to impose a carbon tariff on imported aluminum, cement, glass, iron, fertilizer and steel — but not foreign fossil fuels. (E&E News)
CLIMATE:
COMMENTARY:
The following commentary was written by Carrie Zalewski, former Chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission and currently vice president of markets and transmission at the American Clean Power Association; and Brent Bailey, former Mississippi Public Service Commissioner and current vice president of operations at Efficient Power & Light LLC. See our commentary guidelines for more information.
Building the power grid of the future requires deploying every available tool in the present.
When it comes to electricity generation, energy wonks often reference an “all-the-above” strategy, which includes all available power sources — fossil fuels, renewable energy, and storage technologies. But generation is just one part of the reliability and affordability equation.
The Midwestern transmission grid must also evolve and adopt an “all-the-above” mentality to withstand increasingly frequent extreme weather events and support rapidly growing power demand while ensuring reliable and low-cost electricity for consumers. This is no small task. As such, policymakers and grid operators must carefully consider all near-term and long-term solutions.
New high-voltage transmission lines are essential to ensure the grid of the future is prepared for surging load growth. But new transmission line development and construction can take many years. To address immediate needs, there are other solutions that can improve capacity in the near term. Enter: advanced grid technologies.
Significant technological advancements are available now that can come online in one to three years compared to the decade or so it takes to build new transmission lines. Such advancements include: grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) — hardware and/or software that can increase the capacity and efficiency of existing transmission lines most hours of the year — as well as high-performance conductors (HPCs) — which offer greater capacity and efficiency benefits compared to traditional conductors.
While these advanced grid technologies cannot provide enough capacity to meet long-term system needs, they are relatively inexpensive and drive enormous cost savings until we can bring regional backbone lines into service. Deploying GETs and HPCs in the near term to help meet projected demand growth while simultaneously planning and constructing new regional and interregional transmission lines is key to ensuring the delivery of reliable, low-cost power across the Midwest.
MISO, the central U.S. grid operator, is considering a second portfolio of transmission projects aimed at creating a regional backbone of long-distance lines that will enable power to flow across the Upper and Central Midwest. These transmission lines will build upon investments made in the first tranche of projects, approved by the grid operator in 2022, which began to lay the groundwork for an evolution of the system.
The second batch of potential projects aims to “reliably and efficiently enable MISO member goals and load growth,” delivering benefits that significantly outweigh costs. Across much of the current system, MISO found that at least 10% of facilities are overloaded and annual curtailments exceed 15%, meaning available generators are forced offline because there is not enough grid capacity to carry their power.
MISO will also soon consider transmission projects for the Southern region of MISO as well as measures to increase the flow of electricity between the MISO regions. A regional problem requires regional solutions, including well-vetted, long-distance transmission lines.
Additionally, there is a significant need for greater interregional transmission capacity between MISO and its neighbors. The U.S. Department of Energy identified especially high congestion between the Midwest and Plains states. This means there are bottlenecks in the system that hinder the ability to deliver electricity between these areas. As a result, more interregional transmission ties from MISO to the Plains would offer considerable consumer benefits in the form of increased reliability and decreased costs when affordable clean energy can be accessed and transmitted back to MISO members.
Building the grid of the future will require every technology at our disposal. It’s critical that grid operators and state regulators consider and implement all transmission technology tools when planning and building a system that will enhance national security, facilitate regional economic development, and withstand new and growing reliability threats for generations to come.
Emissions from buildings make up about two-thirds of the greenhouse gas footprint of Indianapolis. So when the city committed to slash emissions, in its 2019 climate action plan and then as part of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge in 2020, leaders knew where they had to start.
A 2021 ordinance requires all buildings over 50,000 square feet and publicly-owned buildings over 25,000 square feet to do energy benchmarking and report results to the city, to be made publicly available by 2026.
The deadline to comply was July 1, 2024. But at year’s end, only about 20% of the 1,500 buildings covered had complied — even though the process can be done in a matter of hours using EPA’s ENERGYSTAR Portfolio manager software. The city also hosted workshops to help walk building managers through the process.
Now the city’s challenge is to boost benchmarking compliance. The penalties for failing to comply are low: fines of $100 the first year and $250 yearly after that. Chicago’s 2013 benchmarking ordinance, by comparison, includes fines of $100 for the first day of a violation and up to $25 each day thereafter, with a maximum fine of $9,200 per year — and the city has a much higher compliance rate.
Lindsay Trameri, community engagement manager for the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability, said the office is continuing outreach, including sending postcards to all relevant building managers and owners.
“We’re not assessing fines yet, but we’re making sure they’re aware this isn’t a city program that’s going away, it is indeed local law,” Trameri said. “And there are benefits to be gleaned from participating. It might cost hundreds of dollars not to participate, but you could save thousands if you participate and take it seriously.”
Trameri said 27 publicly-owned buildings in the consolidated city and county government must be benchmarked, and the city is planning to use about $800,000 worth of federal Department of Energy funding to hire an energy manager “who will be solely focused on looking at city-owned buildings and how to make them more energy efficient.”
In Indiana, reducing buildings’ electricity use is particularly urgent since the state got about 45% of its power from coal in 2023. The benchmarking mandate doesn’t require buildings to take any action based on their energy results, but benchmarking often motivates building owners and municipalities to invest in savings, experts say.
Cities participating in the Bloomberg program saw 3% to 8% energy reductions and millions in savings, with nearly 400 million square feet now covered by benchmarking policies and over 37,000 energy audits completed, according to Kelly Shultz, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies” sustainable cities initiative.
Though overall compliance is low, some major public and private entities have completed benchmarking in Indianapolis, including the airport, convention center, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Target and JC Penney.
Phil Day, facilities director for the museum, noted that it’s crucial for museums to keep consistent levels of humidity and temperature. That means high energy use, and also vulnerability to blackouts or energy price spikes. Benchmarking has helped him develop plans for reducing natural gas and electricity use with smaller boilers and heat pumps distributed throughout the facilities, a possible geothermal chilling system, and better insulation. These innovations should save money and make the museum more resilient to energy disruptions.
“Museums aren’t typically known as an energy efficient facility, but it is always high on my priority list in everything we program or replace,” Day said.
The firm Cenergistic has done benchmarking since 2017 for Indianapolis Public Schools, and identified more than $1 million in wasteful energy costs that could be cut across 71 schools. Under Cenergistic’s contract, it is paid half of the energy savings it secures. Seventeen school buildings have obtained EPA Energy Star status based on their energy efficiency improvements, Cenergistic CEO Dennis Harris said.
“Benchmarking provided a clear starting point by identifying high-energy-consuming facilities and systems,” Harris said. “Cenergistic energy specialists track energy consumption at all campuses with the company’s software platform, identifying waste and driving conservation. By consistently reviewing this data, Cenergistic continues to work with IPS to make data-driven decisions, set measurable goals, and continually refine its strategy for maximum impact.”
Trameri said the schools’ success is “a great message to point to. If they can do it, we can do it. Of course, we want those millions to go back into classrooms and teachers and students versus out the door for utility costs.”
Trameri said in developing its benchmarking program and ordinance, Indianapolis has relied on guidance and lessons from other cities including Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, both fellow participants in the Bloomberg challenge.
In Chicago, about 85% of the 3,700 buildings covered by the ordinance are in compliance, said Amy Jewel, vice president of programs at Elevate, the organization that oversees Chicago’s program. She said nine out of 10 buildings complied even right after the ordinance took effect, thanks to years of organizing by city leaders and NGOs like the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“A large number of building owners recognized this was coming. They engaged in the process, and saw their fingerprints within the ordinance,” said Lindy Wordlaw, director of climate and environmental justice initiatives for the city of Chicago.
Chicago passed an additional ordinance creating an energy rating program, where buildings receive a score of 0 to 4 based on their energy benchmarking results. An 11-by-17-inch placard with the score and explanation must be publicly posted, “similar to a food safety rating for a restaurant,” Wordlaw said.
In 2021, Chicago reported that median energy use per square foot had dropped by 7% over the past three years, and greenhouse gas emissions had dropped 37% since 2016 in buildings subject to the ordinance. City public housing and buildings owned by the Archdiocese were among those to do early benchmarking and investments.
Along with Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C., Chicago was among the nation’s first major cities to institute benchmarking. Jewel said they hope to keep sharing lessons learned.
For example, “it’s actually pretty hard to come up with the covered buildings list,” Jewel noted, since there is no central list of all buildings in a city but rather various records “all used for slightly different purposes — the property tax database, different sources tracking violations. It took a bit of time to get that list together, and it takes time to maintain it as buildings are constructed or demolished.”
In Indianapolis, Trameri said they are hopeful more buildings will get with the program as awareness grows about the requirement.
“There has always been evidence that you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Trameri. “It’s a market-based strategy. Truly once a facilities owner or manager is able to look at their energy usage over a month, 12 months, or multiple years and make evidence-based decisions based on that data, it will affect your bottom line, and those savings you can reinvest into whatever your organization’s mission is.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed performance information about Bloomberg Philanthropies’ sustainable cities initiative.
GRID: A $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a major Midwest transmission project faces uncertainty about whether the Trump administration will follow through with the commitment. (Canary Media)
ALSO: Four business groups call on Iowa regulators to enact ratemaking reforms that ensure utilities make necessary grid investments over the coming decades with limited effects on customers. (Radio Iowa)
CLEAN ENERGY: Congressional Republicans consider scaling back or eliminating a U.S. Department of Energy loan program that has backed a variety of U.S. clean energy projects with billions of dollars in financing. (E&E News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
CARBON CAPTURE: Wolf Carbon Solutions withdraws its permit application in Iowa for a 95-mile carbon pipeline project that would sequester emissions in Illinois. (Des Moines Register)
SOLAR:
OVERSIGHT: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who’s been tapped to lead the Interior Department as well as serve as the Trump administration’s energy czar, could play an outsized role in federal energy policy. (E&E News)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s Senate Majority Leader says cost barriers remain to building a $250 million pipeline under a public-private partnership that would deliver Bakken-area gas to other parts of the state. (Prairie Public)
EFFICIENCY: A Minneapolis nonprofit is leading the construction of passive homes on the city’s north side that aim to save homeowners with minimal electric and heating bills. (Sahan Journal)
SOLAR: Developers hope to finish construction next year on a solar-powered microgrid on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota that aims to reduce energy costs and provide backup power to the small community. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
PIPELINES: The Iowa Supreme Court affirms a lower court ruling that Summit Carbon Solutions has temporary access to private property owners’ land for surveying despite claims that the practice is “invasive.” (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
COAL:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: President-elect Trump’s potential to withdraw $7,500 federal tax credits on electric vehicles could result in a 27% drop in sales for electric cars and trucks, experts say. (New York Times)
NUCLEAR: Data center developers’ interest in both large and small-scale nuclear reactors to meet their power needs is creating opportunities for contractors with specialized experience in the field. (Construction Dive)
GRID: A clean energy analyst says federal regulators’ decision to give states more of a say in transmission cost planning was a “Kumbaya moment” that will hopefully prevent court challenges to the federal rule. (Utility Dive)
BATTERIES: Federal energy officials finalize a $1.3 billion loan for a company to finance an Indiana plant that will make lithium-ion battery separators used mostly in electric vehicles. (Reuters)
CLEAN ENERGY: A Nebraska village receives $100,000 in federal clean energy funding to install a solar project at a wastewater treatment facility. (High Plains Journal)
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