Full Text of HJR0048 97th General Assembly
HJ0048 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HJ0048 | | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Energy affects all aspects of American life and is | 3 | | indispensable for the quality of life, economic growth, and the | 4 | | sustainability of modern society; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Access to energy and the supply of energy shall | 6 | | become more important in the future as energy demand continues | 7 | | to increase; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Energy Information Administration | 9 | | projects that overall energy consumption in the United States | 10 | | will grow by 14% between 2008 and 2035, electricity demand will | 11 | | increase by 30%, and demand for liquid transportation fuels | 12 | | such as gasoline and diesel will increase by nearly 14%; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, According to the U.S. EPA, since 1980 domestic GDP | 14 | | has increased 124%, vehicle miles traveled have increased 103%, | 15 | | population has increased 36%, and energy consumption has | 16 | | increased 30%; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, U.S. EPA reports that since 1980 aggregate | 18 | | emissions of air toxins have decreased 52%, ambient levels of | 19 | | carbon monoxide are down 77%, ozone is down 21%, lead is down | 20 | | 94%, and sulfur dioxide is down 68%; and
|
| | | HJ0048 | - 2 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, EPA's recently issued the Cross-State Air | 2 | | Pollution Rule and other recent U.S. EPA proposals, including | 3 | | the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule and the Mercury and Air | 4 | | Toxics Standards Rule, could threaten the reliability and | 5 | | security of the nation's electric energy supply; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, More than 28 Gigawatts of coal-fired electricity | 7 | | generating capacity had been publicly announced to be retired | 8 | | beginning in 2010, before the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule | 9 | | was finalized on July 6, 2011; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Additional retirements of electric generating | 11 | | capacity are being announced due to the emission reduction | 12 | | requirements of current and proposed U.S. EPA regulations, and, | 13 | | according to estimates by the Federal Energy Regulatory | 14 | | Commission staff, could be as much as 81 Gigawatts, or | 15 | | one-fourth of the nation's fleet of coal-based generation | 16 | | capacity; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In 2009, 46% of electricity generated in Illinois | 18 | | was produced from coal-based units, including many units that | 19 | | may be retired in response to current and proposed U.S. EPA | 20 | | regulations; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The PJM Regional Transmission Organization has | 22 | | commented that U.S. EPA's regulatory analyses have not |
| | | HJ0048 | - 3 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | adequately taken into account local reliability impacts and | 2 | | have understated the level of expected generation retirements | 3 | | under the EPA's proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule, | 4 | | while the Midwest ISO has expressed similar reliability risk | 5 | | concerns; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Chair and members of the Federal Energy | 7 | | Regulatory Commission have expressed concerns about the | 8 | | inadequacy of analyses of potential reliability impacts, with | 9 | | Commissioner Philip Moeller noting that "the timing of the EPA | 10 | | regulations does not conform to the relevant planning horizons | 11 | | in the electric sector of our economy, one of the most | 12 | | capital-intensive sectors of industry...the federal government | 13 | | needs to convene an open and transparent process to assess the | 14 | | reliability implications of the EPA rules individually and in | 15 | | the aggregate"; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, The premature closure of dozens of power plants in | 17 | | Illinois and surrounding Midwest states could imperil critical | 18 | | electrical transmission services, including voltage support, | 19 | | black start recovery, and reactive power, thereby further | 20 | | jeopardizing the dependability of the nation's energy supply; | 21 | | and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Maintaining electrical grid reliability is | 23 | | particularly critical to the Chicago metropolitan area, due to |
| | | HJ0048 | - 4 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | its population density and vulnerability to extreme weather | 2 | | events; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Estimates by the United Mine Workers of America | 4 | | indicate that the retirement of existing generating capacity in | 5 | | the short 2-4 year timeframes called for by current and | 6 | | proposed U.S. EPA regulations for reducing SO2, NOx, and air | 7 | | toxics emissions may put at risk more than 250,000 jobs | 8 | | directly and indirectly related to coal mining, rail | 9 | | transportation, and power generation, including an estimated | 10 | | 28,000 jobs in Illinois, imposing economic hardship on workers | 11 | | and communities at a time of unacceptably high unemployment; | 12 | | and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Energy efficiency is an important component of | 14 | | state and federal energy policies, but cannot be counted on to | 15 | | replace the output of the unprecedented numbers of power plant | 16 | | retirements anticipated under current and proposed U.S. EPA | 17 | | regulations; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The National Association of Regulatory Utility | 19 | | Commissioners has adopted resolutions calling on U.S. EPA to | 20 | | seek ways to minimize cost impacts to consumers and increases | 21 | | in residential, commercial, and industrial energy tariffs that | 22 | | will affect the competitiveness of businesses and the ability | 23 | | of customers in lower economic circumstances to be able to |
| | | HJ0048 | - 5 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | afford energy; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The National Conference of State Legislatures has | 3 | | strongly urged the Administration and Congress to take steps to | 4 | | protect the environment without the serious anticipated | 5 | | consequences to grid reliability, electricity price spikes, | 6 | | and job losses; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Alternatives that would achieve the same level of | 8 | | emissions reduction as those targeted in the various EPA | 9 | | proposals can be achieved at much less cost, disruption to | 10 | | local economies, and with less impact to utility customers; | 11 | | therefore, be it
| 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 14 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the General Assembly of the | 15 | | State of Illinois urges Congress and the Administration to act | 16 | | without delay to establish a sound foundation for national | 17 | | energy policy given the important and integral role of energy | 18 | | in all facets of modern life; by providing the necessary and | 19 | | fundamental support for programs key to a secure and | 20 | | sustainable energy future, the nation will at the same time be | 21 | | ensuring the resilience of our domestic economy and the | 22 | | competitiveness of the United States in the global economy; and | 23 | | be it further
|
| | | HJ0048 | - 6 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the reliability of the U.S. energy grid | 2 | | should never be put at risk from policies that could cause | 3 | | energy shortages or delivery failures; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, It is the policy of the State of Illinois, and | 5 | | should be the policy of the United States, to allow utilities | 6 | | to coordinate the closure and retrofitting of existing power | 7 | | generation stations in an orderly manner that will ensure the | 8 | | continued supply of electricity and that will allow power | 9 | | generators to upgrade their facilities in a manner that | 10 | | provides the least cost while attaining environmental | 11 | | compliance; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, The United States Congress, which represents the | 13 | | interests of the states individually and collectively, is the | 14 | | appropriate public body to determine national energy policy as | 15 | | it relates to reliability of supply, residential | 16 | | affordability, competitive impacts on American industry and | 17 | | workers, and the overall economic prosperity of the nation; and | 18 | | be it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, The time available to deploy existing emissions | 20 | | control technology to comply with U.S. EPA regulations must | 21 | | reflect normal construction industry experience and practices | 22 | | that maximize order and efficiency to avoid wasteful financial |
| | | HJ0048 | - 7 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | expenditures and any risks to energy reliability; and be it | 2 | | further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, The General Assembly encourages and supports | 4 | | efforts to promote State and federal environmental and energy | 5 | | policies that will enhance the reliability of our State and | 6 | | nation'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 | 21 | | that the Congress, the President, and the Administration take | 22 | | such actions as necessary and appropriate to ensure the | 23 | | continued supply of affordable and reliable electric energy, | 24 | | consistent with the maintenance of fuel diversity and grid |
| | | HJ0048 | - 8 - | LRB097 14128 CEL 58818 r |
|
| 1 | | reliability, while also ensuring continuing emission reduction | 2 | | progress for the protection of public health and welfare; and | 3 | | be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, This Joint Resolution is approved and copies of | 5 | | it are to be transmitted to the President of the United States, | 6 | | the Governor of Illinois, all Members of the Illinois | 7 | | Congressional Delegation, the Secretary of the U.S. Department | 8 | | of Energy, the Administrator of U.S. EPA, the Chair and Members | 9 | | of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and all Members of | 10 | | the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
|
|