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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Energy affects all aspects of American life and is
3indispensable for the quality of life, economic growth, and the
4sustainability of modern society; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Access to energy and the supply of energy shall
6become more important in the future as energy demand continues
7to increase; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The U.S. Energy Information Administration
9projects that overall energy consumption in the United States
10will grow by 14% between 2008 and 2035, electricity demand will
11increase by 30%, and demand for liquid transportation fuels
12such as gasoline and diesel will increase by nearly 14%; and
 
13    WHEREAS, According to the U.S. EPA, since 1980 domestic GDP
14has increased 124%, vehicle miles traveled have increased 103%,
15population has increased 36%, and energy consumption has
16increased 30%; and
 
17    WHEREAS, U.S. EPA reports that since 1980 aggregate
18emissions of air toxins have decreased 52%, ambient levels of
19carbon monoxide are down 77%, ozone is down 21%, lead is down
2094%, and sulfur dioxide is down 68%; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, EPA's recently issued the Cross-State Air
2Pollution Rule and other recent U.S. EPA proposals, including
3the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule and the Mercury and Air
4Toxics Standards Rule, could threaten the reliability and
5security of the nation's electric energy supply; and
 
6    WHEREAS, More than 28 Gigawatts of coal-fired electricity
7generating capacity had been publicly announced to be retired
8beginning in 2010, before the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
9was finalized on July 6, 2011; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Additional retirements of electric generating
11capacity are being announced due to the emission reduction
12requirements of current and proposed U.S. EPA regulations, and,
13according to estimates by the Federal Energy Regulatory
14Commission staff, could be as much as 81 Gigawatts, or
15one-fourth of the nation's fleet of coal-based generation
16capacity; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In 2009, 46% of electricity generated in Illinois
18was produced from coal-based units, including many units that
19may be retired in response to current and proposed U.S. EPA
20regulations; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The PJM Regional Transmission Organization has
22commented that U.S. EPA's regulatory analyses have not

 

 

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1adequately taken into account local reliability impacts and
2have understated the level of expected generation retirements
3under the EPA's proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule,
4while the Midwest ISO has expressed similar reliability risk
5concerns; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Chair and members of the Federal Energy
7Regulatory Commission have expressed concerns about the
8inadequacy of analyses of potential reliability impacts, with
9Commissioner Philip Moeller noting that "the timing of the EPA
10regulations does not conform to the relevant planning horizons
11in the electric sector of our economy, one of the most
12capital-intensive sectors of industry...the federal government
13needs to convene an open and transparent process to assess the
14reliability implications of the EPA rules individually and in
15the aggregate"; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The premature closure of dozens of power plants in
17Illinois and surrounding Midwest states could imperil critical
18electrical transmission services, including voltage support,
19black start recovery, and reactive power, thereby further
20jeopardizing the dependability of the nation's energy supply;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, Maintaining electrical grid reliability is
23particularly critical to the Chicago metropolitan area, due to

 

 

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1its population density and vulnerability to extreme weather
2events; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Estimates by the United Mine Workers of America
4indicate that the retirement of existing generating capacity in
5the short 2-4 year timeframes called for by current and
6proposed U.S. EPA regulations for reducing SO2, NOx, and air
7toxics emissions may put at risk more than 250,000 jobs
8directly and indirectly related to coal mining, rail
9transportation, and power generation, including an estimated
1028,000 jobs in Illinois, imposing economic hardship on workers
11and communities at a time of unacceptably high unemployment;
12and
 
13    WHEREAS, Energy efficiency is an important component of
14state and federal energy policies, but cannot be counted on to
15replace the output of the unprecedented numbers of power plant
16retirements anticipated under current and proposed U.S. EPA
17regulations; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The National Association of Regulatory Utility
19Commissioners has adopted resolutions calling on U.S. EPA to
20seek ways to minimize cost impacts to consumers and increases
21in residential, commercial, and industrial energy tariffs that
22will affect the competitiveness of businesses and the ability
23of customers in lower economic circumstances to be able to

 

 

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1afford energy; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The National Conference of State Legislatures has
3strongly urged the Administration and Congress to take steps to
4protect the environment without the serious anticipated
5consequences to grid reliability, electricity price spikes,
6and job losses; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Alternatives that would achieve the same level of
8emissions reduction as those targeted in the various EPA
9proposals can be achieved at much less cost, disruption to
10local economies, and with less impact to utility customers;
11therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
14SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly of the
15State of Illinois urges Congress and the Administration to act
16without delay to establish a sound foundation for national
17energy policy given the important and integral role of energy
18in all facets of modern life; by providing the necessary and
19fundamental support for programs key to a secure and
20sustainable energy future, the nation will at the same time be
21ensuring the resilience of our domestic economy and the
22competitiveness of the United States in the global economy; and
23be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That the reliability of the U.S. energy grid
2should never be put at risk from policies that could cause
3energy shortages or delivery failures; and be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, It is the policy of the State of Illinois, and
5should be the policy of the United States, to allow utilities
6to coordinate the closure and retrofitting of existing power
7generation stations in an orderly manner that will ensure the
8continued supply of electricity and that will allow power
9generators to upgrade their facilities in a manner that
10provides the least cost while attaining environmental
11compliance; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, The United States Congress, which represents the
13interests of the states individually and collectively, is the
14appropriate public body to determine national energy policy as
15it relates to reliability of supply, residential
16affordability, competitive impacts on American industry and
17workers, and the overall economic prosperity of the nation; and
18be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, The time available to deploy existing emissions
20control technology to comply with U.S. EPA regulations must
21reflect normal construction industry experience and practices
22that maximize order and efficiency to avoid wasteful financial

 

 

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1expenditures and any risks to energy reliability; and be it
2further
 
3    RESOLVED, The General Assembly encourages and supports
4efforts to promote State and federal environmental and energy
5policies that will enhance the reliability of our State and
6nation's energy supply and minimize cost impacts by:
7        (1) allowing electric generators to coordinate the
8    closure or retrofitting of existing electric generating
9    units in an orderly manner that will ensure the continued
10    supply of electricity and that will allow power generators
11    to upgrade their facilities in the most cost-effective
12    manner;
13        (2) allowing regulatory options for units that are
14    necessary for grid reliability that commit to retire or
15    repower and allowing phasing in of regulatory
16    requirements; and
17        (3) establishing interim progress standards that
18    ensure generation units meet U.S. EPA regulations in an
19    orderly, cost-effective manner; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, The General Assembly therefore urgently requests
21that the Congress, the President, and the Administration take
22such actions as necessary and appropriate to ensure the
23continued supply of affordable and reliable electric energy,
24consistent with the maintenance of fuel diversity and grid

 

 

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1reliability, while also ensuring continuing emission reduction
2progress for the protection of public health and welfare; and
3be it further
 
4    RESOLVED, This Joint Resolution is approved and copies of
5it are to be transmitted to the President of the United States,
6the Governor of Illinois, all Members of the Illinois
7Congressional Delegation, the Secretary of the U.S. Department
8of Energy, the Administrator of U.S. EPA, the Chair and Members
9of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and all Members of
10the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.