Illinois signs clean energy bill, will drive investments for solar PV, battery storage and VPPs
The Governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, has signed a clean energy bill into law that will boost solar PV and energy storage investments in the state, among others.
This new legislation, called the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA), SB 25, builds upon two previous legislations that supported renewables, the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), which was passed in 2021 and targeted 100% clean energy by 2050. Since the passing of CEJA, Illinois has supported over 6GW of renewable energy, with a further 6GW under development.
With the signing of CRGA, Illinois aims to tackle rising electricity costs “driven by private grid operators” and expand cost-saving energy resources, while growing Illinois’ clean energy economy. The legislation will take effect on 1 June 2026.
In terms of lowering energy costs, the legislation aims to achieve this with the establishment of a state procurement of 3GW grid-scale battery storage by 2030; the creation of virtual power plant (VPP) programmes from utilities which will allow households with solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles to participate in or create an Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process that aims to find cost-effective ways to keep energy bills low and make necessary adjustments to state programmes.
