{"id":302612,"date":"2025-10-14T12:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/302612\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T12:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:32:09","slug":"illinois-needs-the-clean-and-reliable-grid-affordability-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/302612\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois needs the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Illinois General Assembly starting its fall veto session, I want to shine a light on the editorial \u201cAfter a summer of sky-high ComEd bills, Springfield must act on long-term relief this fall\u201d<\/a> (Sept. 26) urging legislators to pass comprehensive energy reform legislation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a rough year. The organization I lead, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), has heard from far too many people who are struggling to understand what on earth is wrong with their power bills. Millions of electric customers have been slammed by a 45% to 50% increase in power prices.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we call on the General Assembly to pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability (CRGA) Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Illinois already has pro-consumer energy policy, but forces outside our state have thrown up unprecedented roadblocks. Power-hungry data centers are causing electricity demand to skyrocket, and poor policy from regional power grid operators like PJM have taken a toll on our electric bills.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Illinois has an important role to alleviate the energy market\u2019s supply-and-demand imbalance.<\/p>\n

The CRGA Act would cost-effectively add enough battery storage to the grid to power millions of homes and help bring down energy prices. Battery storage is like insurance for our power system. By making smart investments in storage, Illinois can make our grid more reliable and affordable.<\/p>\n

Also, the CRGA Act would expand energy efficiency programs to give consumers more tools to save money. Efficiency is a wise investment: For every dollar spent on it, consumers can get at least $2 back in systemwide benefits (such as avoiding expensive grid upgrades to meet increased energy demand).<\/p>\n

Bottom line: We support the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act because it would lower power bills. In fact, an analysis by the Illinois Power Agency found that even under the most conservative estimates, the CRGA Act would reduce bills across Illinois<\/a>. By 2035, annual customer savings would range from about $95 to $250.<\/p>\n

This past summer, spiking power bills made us all pay the price of inaction \u2014 so this is urgent. To avoid a volatile future of rapidly escalating power bills, lawmakers must take decisive action in the fall veto session and pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sarah Moskowitz, executive director, Citizens Utility Board\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preserve existing housing<\/p>\n

As Chicago debates the future of Broadway in Edgewater, one simple truth is being overlooked: The greenest housing is the housing we already have. Every time we demolish an existing building and replace it with new construction, we incur an enormous carbon cost. The embodied energy in brick, wood and concrete \u2014 all the materials that went into our older buildings \u2014 is lost, and the emissions from producing and transporting new materials are added to the atmosphere. Preservation isn\u2019t nostalgia; it\u2019s climate policy.<\/p>\n

But environmental impact is only half the story. Existing housing is also our city\u2019s most affordable housing; it\u2019s called naturally occurring affordable housing. The one- to three-story buildings that line Broadway provide naturally affordable homes for working families, seniors and young people; they also house a vast array of locally owned businesses. When those buildings are replaced by upscale new developments, the result isn\u2019t a wider range of choices \u2014 it\u2019s higher rents and fewer options for current residents and businesses.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s unprecedented, top-down proposal for Broadway disregards 125 years of community-driven, organic development. It relies on massive demolition and displacement of existing affordable housing and local businesses. Eighty percent of current buildings \u2014 and their residential and local business tenants \u2014 would be replaced by new seven- to eight-story buildings. Supporters of upzoning claim that allowing taller, denser private developments would eventually lower rents on Broadway and throughout Edgewater. That theory \u2014 a \u201ctrickle-down\u201d approach to housing \u2014 depends on an unrealistic assumption, that private developers will build so much market-rate housing that supply vastly outstrips demand. In fact, in Chicago, this has never proved to be true. There is not a single instance in which development has led to price reductions in a local housing market. In Edgewater, a thriving and desirable community, this will never happen. Prices won\u2019t drop until the neighborhood loses the very qualities that make people want to live here.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many of Chicago\u2019s neighborhoods are experiencing the opposite problem \u2014 an oversupply of vacant housing, disinvestment and population loss. Instead of demolition, displacement and unbridled development where the market is already strong, the city should be focusing public and private resources on stabilizing and reinvesting in communities that need it most and improving the quality of life for all Chicagoans.<\/p>\n

Preserving existing housing and protecting local businesses aren\u2019t just about saving old buildings. They\u2019re about protecting affordability, reducing emissions, and strengthening Edgewater and communities across the city.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jack Markowski, former city housing commissioner, Chicago<\/p>\n

Definition of \u2018temporary\u2019<\/p>\n

A lot has been written about state, city and now Cook County budget deficits. Leaders are partially blaming running out of federal relief money. Wasn\u2019t the purpose of relief money to supplement tax dollars during the COVID-19 shutdown? Hence, it was temporary relief?<\/p>\n

It surely appears that this money was used to explode operating expenses and budgets, as opposed to being used as relief, and now there is a shortage. This is another reason why our political leaders have no credibility. Imagine a company CEO saying, \u201cWe will lose money next year and the next several years because we will not have the \u2018one-time\u2019 income we had this year.\u201d They probably would not be CEO much longer.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stan Stec, Orland Park<\/p>\n

Step up police patrols<\/p>\n

The recent spate of unprovoked punching attacks on women in the Loop and near Michigan Avenue is very alarming. Mayor Brandon Johnson and the local police commanders must take prompt action to increase foot and bicycle police patrols in those areas. A visible and active police presence would deter future attacks and increase the likelihood of these cowardly and vicious attackers being arrested.<\/p>\n

Failure to stop these attacks endangers our residents and gives ammunition to President Donald Trump\u2019s attacks on Chicago as a crime-ridden city.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Richard M. Bendix Jr., Chicago<\/p>\n

A misbegotten alliance<\/p>\n

If Tyler Technologies, responsible for the overhaul of Cook County\u2019s computer systems, manages those systems as well as it manages its e-filing system for court cases and evictions in Cook County, we the people are in for a world of hurt.<\/p>\n

I spent seven months trying to electronically file an eviction case against tenants in my two-flat. After six failed attempts, during which I followed all the available instructions on the Tyler e-filing site, I was finally able to get my eviction case accepted by the court.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, while I fought the world\u2019s most poorly managed website, the tenants in question destroyed my apartment, paid no rent and disrupted my life extensively for months. The delay was entirely due to the byzantine and unmanageable system on the Tyler e-file site, and there was no help available to me. (Believe me, I tried.) I have no recourse for the financial and property damage Tyler\u2019s system facilitated.<\/p>\n

Reading that Tyler is in charge of Cook County\u2019s computer systems was a kick to the sternum. If there\u2019s anyone who can talk the county out of this misbegotten alliance, they\u2019d be doing the constituents of Chicagoland a very great favor indeed.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Regina Arndt, Chicago<\/p>\n

Thank you, North Siders<\/p>\n

Once again, it\u2019s wait \u2019til next year for Chicago sports fans. But for once, we can say one of our pro teams was guilty of overachieving and not merely living down to expectations.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Cubbies, for a season of pleasant memories.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bob Ory, Elgin<\/p>\n

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here<\/a> or email letters@chicagotribune.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Illinois General Assembly starting its fall veto session, I want to shine a light on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":302613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818,7281,1269],"class_list":{"0":"post-302612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-letters-to-the-editor","12":"tag-opinion"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115372539691770206","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}