Union workers rally behind Climate Union Jobs proposal

Union workers rally behind Climate Union Jobs proposal

By GRACE BARBIC and JERRY NOWICKI
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – Hundreds of union workers joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers Friday in front of the Illinois Capitol in support of the state’s nuclear power industry

The rally came with just four days remaining in the legislative session and amid a complicated backdrop for the state’s nuclear power industry, which proponents say creates about 28,000 jobs statewide.

Illinois has six nuclear stations which supply more than half of the state’s carbon-free energy. All of them are owned and operated by Exelon Corporation, the parent company of scandal-ridden utility giant Commonwealth Edison.

Last year, ComEd entered a deferred prosecution agreement with federal authorities in which they admitted to attempts to “influence and reward Public Official A,” who was identified as former House Speaker Michael Madigan, for that person’s favorable action on legislation. Madigan has not been charged, but several other former ComEd officials have been indicted.

Madigan’s former chief of staff was indicted Wednesday on charges that he lied under oath and obstructed justice, and he pleaded not guilty Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The rally on behalf of nuclear energy came two days after nearly 50 Democratic legislators, identifying as the Illinois Legislative Green Caucus, sent a letter to leadership concerning their demands in a compromise energy overhaul package still pending release.

“We will not support a bill which is simply a handout for utilities and does not prioritize climate and equity – we must be forward thinking and lead with these issues. Our constituents and communities will support nothing less,” the caucus members wrote in the letter.

One of the major questions left to be decided as lawmakers look to draft a compromise energy plan before May 31 adjournment is what level of subsidy Exelon will receive for at least two nuclear plants – one in Byron, one in Dresden – that it has threatened to close without legislative action.

Supporters of the Climate Union Jobs Act, the union-backed energy proposal being considered in energy negotiations with the governor’s working group, touted nuclear energy’s reliability as a carbon-free resource.

“If we lose (the energy negotiation) it’ll be 35 years until we’re able to replace that (nuclear) energy with renewable resources like solar and wind. Losing is not an option. Winning means we save 30,000 jobs and billions of dollars in economic development,” said Democratic Sen. Michael Hastings, of Tinley Park, chief sponsor of CUJA.

Hastings is also chairman of the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee. He was joined at the rally by Republican Sen. Sue Rezin, of Morris, Chicago Democrat Rep. Marcus Evans Jr. and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs.

Republican Rep. David Welter, of Morris, and Republican Sen. Neil Anderson, of Rock Island, also spoke at the rally.

The 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act, approved by the General Assembly and tied by federal prosecutors to ComEd’s admitted bribery scheme, allows Exelon to rack up $2.3 billion in subsidies which were funded by electricity customers to maintain two of its nuclear plants. That equaled more than $230 million per year for 10 years.

The governor’s plan offered about $70 million in subsidies each year for the next five years to the Byron and Dresden plants. Negotiations on a final amount continue.

CUJA advocates, such as Kent Bugg, president of the Fair Assessment Information Resource Committee, or FAIRCOM, said nuclear plant closures would have a devastating immediate impact on communities. Bugg is also the superintendent of Coal City School District 1.

“If the Dresden station closes in November of this year, the Coal City school district loses 60 percent of its property tax revenue overnight,” Bugg said. “If that happens, there’s two choices, drastically increase the tax burden on our residents or slash our educational programming and slash emergency services to a fraction of what they were before.”

Advocates said the Climate Union Jobs Act will also reset standard ratemaking procedures, subjecting proposed rate hikes to greater regulatory scrutiny, similar to a measure proposed in the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

“But it will hold people accountable,” Hastings said at the rally without naming any companies. “It’ll hold those people that cast a dark cloud over our state that caused this whole problem. This bill would have been passed a long time ago if it wasn’t for them, and we’re gonna hold them to the highest ethical standards that we can.”

CUJA backers touted a refund mechanism which would “protect consumers from paying inflated costs for nuclear plants receiving subsidies.”

The Climate Jobs Illinois coalition said state leaders still haven’t found a way to “sufficiently” fund the nuclear plants that provide “clean energy,” which is why they suggest a 10-year bridge contract provision.

“If the market prices increase (providing higher payment for power generated), the bill includes a mechanism that would dynamically respond, lowering the credit value offered to the nuclear plants to protect consumers from paying more than necessary to operate them,” according to a news release.

Durkin said at the rally that the “entire Republican Caucus” is standing to ensure the nuclear fleet will continue to operate in Illinois.

“Republicans are 100 percent committed in the House of Representatives to finding a solution to this problem, one that is fair to everyone, not only you (workers) but also consumers, also everyone who relies upon good clean energy in the state of Illinois,” Durkin said.

Should an energy proposal pass, it would likely contain provisions from several bills before the General Assembly.

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Leave a Comment





Local News

Victress Women's Wellness Center, 7120 W. 127th St., Palos Heights, welcomed in the new year with a goal-setting seminar open to women in the local community called, Achieve 2022: This year set goals, not resolutions.  (Supplied photos)

Victress Women’s Wellness Center sets goals for 2022 

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Kelly White  Empowering women in the new year is Victress, a wellness center for women, in Palos Heights. The center opened in October at 7120 W. 127th St. and welcomed in the new year with a goal-setting seminar open to women in the local community called, Achieve 2022: This year set goals,…

Engineer Carl Germann (left) and executive producer Ron Jankowski helped Channel 4 in Palos Heights to a successful 2021. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Broadcast news — Palos Heights’ Channel 4 has big 2021

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva The first Palos Heights city council meeting of 2022 featured a few minutes of bragging about Channel 4’s success in 2021. The local cable channel had a record-breaking year and Alderman Jerry McGovern was more than happy to run down the happy totals at Tuesday’s board meeting at City Hall.…

The Rios family plans to make The Great American Bagel shop at 12774 S. Harlem Ave. a go-to breakfast and lunch choice in Palos Heights and beyond. Pictured (from left) are Manny Jr. Manny Sr., daughter Silvia, Mia and mother Silvia Rios. (Photo by Cosmo Hadac)

Experienced bakers buy The Great American Bagel in Palos Heights

Spread the love

Spread the loveNew owners nearly double the menu for breakfast, lunch   By Cosmo Hadac When The Great American Bagel’s shop in Palos Heights changed hands late last year, the new owners who walked in the door weren’t exactly new. Manny Rios Sr. and his wife, Silvia, have nearly 50 years of combined experience in…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

New owner will keep Palmer Place name and burgers Copy

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy  Steve Metsch Palmer Place Restaurant and Biergarten, a mainstay in downtown La Grange for nearly 40 years, will soon have new owners. But not much else will change. The name on 56 S. La Grange Road will still read Palmer Place. The employees now there will still have their jobs. And the…

SRP-IMAGE-Logo

Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound PDF January 19, 2022

Spread the love

Spread the love

Palos Park Mayor John Mahoney and the village council could make a decision on Monday regarding video gaming. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Palos Park could be making its decision on gaming on Monday

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Will Palos Park make its decision on bringing in gaming machines to the village on Monday? The world will have to wait until Monday to find out. The village council will meet for the first time in 2022 on Monday after its Jan. 10 meeting was cancelled because of a…

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said that mandates from Cook County are unlawful. (Photo by Jeff Vorva)

Pekau takes Rubin and Foxx to task over mandate punishments

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Orland Park has Cook’s County’s attention. The village’s decision to vote against enforcing Cook County COVID-19 mandates at a special meeting Dec. 28 has been a hot topic. The village’s position is that businesses need not require proof of vaccination for patrons to enter. Some businesses are taking the board…

CRRNH_FrontPageStory_011922

‘These bruises won’t heal’

Spread the love

Spread the loveCPS kids back in school, but bitterness remains By Tim Hadac Teachers who walked off the job in the new year returned last week after the Chicago Teachers Union rank and file voted to accept Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s offer of increased safety measures at schools. But it was a divided vote, with just…

CRRNH_JohnShakerAnd Burt_011922

Smooch from a pooch

Spread the love

Spread the loveMutts of the Midway volunteer John Shaker smiles as he gets a smooch from Burt, a 5-year-old American Pit Bull/Boston Terrier mix. Shaker works as a transporter, driving dogs to and from veterinarian appointments. The 37-pound Burt was rescued by the non-profit Mutts of the Midway from a shelter in Texas. For several…

The Clear-Ridge Little League is scheduled to start its games in April, but signup is occurring now. --File photo

Here’s a sure sign of spring

Spread the love

Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Hi everyone. How have you been surviving January? This is one month I always hope flies by. If the sun is out, the temperatures are, or feel like they are in the subzero range. If it’s cloudy, which is most…

Neighbors

CRR_NH

Clear-Ridge Reporter and NewsHound May 1, 2024

Spread the love

Spread the love

GSWNH_HuescaCasket_050324

‘A man of honor, a beacon of kindness’

Spread the love

Spread the love. Chicago weeps for Officer Luis Huesca  . By Tim Hadac People across the Southwest Side shed tears earlier this week, as throngs of police officers and other filled the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel at 77th and Western for a funeral Mass for CPD Officer Luis M. Huesca. Officer Huesca was…

GSWNH_AMLL11_050324

Archer Manor Little League starts its 2024 season

Spread the love

Spread the love. Sunny skies and mild temperatures greeted the boys and girls, moms and dads, umpires and coaches, and everyone else participating in Archer Manor Little League’s Opening Day parade and ceremonies at Archer Park. Since 1952, AMLL has provided athletic opportunities for thousands of boys and girls in Archer Heights, West Elsdon, Central…

In a screenshot from a video showing drifting in a Southwest Side parking lot, Smoke billows from both a muscle car's wheels and the asphalt below. --Supplied photo

Dread over car drifters on streets

Spread the love

Spread the love. Reckless drivers take over SW Side intersections  . By Tim Hadac At the April meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, a police officer admitted that the drag racing/drifting phenomenon seen and heard in the Midway area in recent years “probably will increase, but we hope not.” The admission was triggered by…

U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" García (D-4th)

Don’t raise pilots’ retirement age, García says

Spread the love

Spread the love. From staff reports U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th), senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently led a letter joined by 121 Members of Congress urging House Democratic leadership to reject any changes to the pilot retirement age in a final version of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill.…

CTAlogo

CTA launches ‘chat’ feature on website

Spread the love

Spread the love. From staff reports Artificial Intelligence has made another step forward at the Chicago Transit Authority. CTA officials recently launched the “Chat with CTA” chatbot, a new virtual automated service featured on transitchicago.com. The communication tool allows riders to report issues, provide feedback and receive answers in real-time. Additionally, it provides the CTA with customer…

ChicagoCitySeal

New effort to aid kids with disabilities

Spread the love

Spread the love. From staff reports A new grant program aimed at providing financial assistance to families of children with disabilities was launched recently by Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and Ada S. McKinley Community Services. Children with disabilities is a population disproportionately affected by the pandemic,…

Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart

Dart warns of Sheriff’s Office imposters

Spread the love

Spread the love. From staff reports Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart recently alerted the public of an uptick in telephone and email phishing scams in which scammers identify themselves as a Sheriff’s Office employee in an attempt to defraud victims. Scammers are using the actual names and respective titles of Sheriff’s Office employees to…

Peggy Zabicki

It’s ‘Batter up!’ time in West Lawn

Spread the love

Spread the love. Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place •  (773) 504-9327 . It must be May because baseball season is here. I recently reported on the West Lawn Little League, whose 2024 season is now underway. Another West Lawn youth athletic association is Midway Baseball Softball Association. Their teams…

Mary Stanek

Cinco de Mayo, here we come

Spread the love

Spread the love. By Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place •  (773) 517-7796 . It’s time to bring out the Corona, Tecate, Modelo or Dos Equis, along with a few limes. Heck, maybe even bring out the Patrón! It is Cinco de Mayo this Sunday, translated to…