New Law Requires Illinois Utilities To Buy More Solar Power

Chicago – In a move that will help spur the rapid adoption of solar energy in the state, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn yesterday signed a bill into law that will require utilities to procure .5% of the energy they sell from solar power sources by June 1, 2012. The date is 3 years sooner than the previous law, which gave utilities until 2015 to procure the same amount of solar energy. Now utilities will have to procure 1.5 percent by June 1, 2013; 3 percent by June 1, 2014; and 6 percent by June 1, 2015, and each year thereafter.

House Bill 6202, sponsored by Rep. William Burns (D-Chicago) and Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), amends both the Illinois Power Agency Act and the Public Utilities Act to change the date by which Commonwealth Edison and Ameren must begin purchasing solar energy as part of the renewable energy portfolio requirement.

A second bill that ensures the right of individual homeowners to add solar energy panels to their homes, provided they follow certain guidelines, was also signed into law.

Citing the job creation aspects of increasing renewable energy in the state, Governor Quinn signed both bills at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Play the video below to for more on the event.