(The Center Square) – Legislation giving Ameren Illinois a monopoly on future high-voltage line construction in its downstate service areas is headed to the governor.
The General Assembly passed House Bill 3445 giving the company the right of first refusal to build transmission lines. The measure, which surfaced on Wednesday at the request of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, passed the Senate 41-9, then after lengthy debate, passed the House late Friday 63-32.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Elwood, said this will keep these projects in house.
“If we don’t have this, MISO could just go out to the market for open bid and you can get anyone to come in here, could be out-of-state contractors,” said Walsh.
But state Rep. Ann Williams, D-Williams, said she is worried what the measure would do to energy bills.
“If you have more competition, generally you keep rates down,” said Williams. “Across the board, whether its generation or whatever it might be, it’s common sense that a monopoly is usually bad for consumers.”
Ameren has testified in other states, including Missouri, that the competitive bid process experienced delays and cost overruns.
Some Republicans in the Illinois House said it is another attempt to fix the broken Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which was signed into law in 2021 and aims to phase out carbon emissions from the energy and transportation sectors.
State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said CEJA was an overreaction by Democratic lawmakers.
“If we do everything that we want to do, by the year 2100, that we will increase the global temperature by 2-hundredths of one percent of a degree,” said Miller. “It doesn’t amount to jack squat.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he plans to veto the measure when it arrives at his desk.
