Galesburg Reporter

State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) dreads what she thinks the new clean energy bill just passed in Springfield could mean for residents.

“We are going to cost every ratepayer in this state more money,” Tracy said in a video posted to YouTube. “The one thing Illinois has had going for it for years is reliable and affordable energy. It seems like we’re trying to set a standard that maybe will put us in a position where we have to import energy from the same carbon that we’re trying to get away from.”

 Tracy isn’t the only Republican lawmaker expressing concern.

“The availability of affordable and reliable energy for Illinois residents is in jeopardy thanks to legislation rammed through the House this week,” state Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) said in a press release regarding the bill that could mean a $700 million-plus bailout for northern Illinois nuclear power company ComEd and Exelon. “This legislation is nothing but a goodie bag for special interests.”

Tracy said she has no problem with keeping the state’s energy companies at home, arguing that it could have been a separate bill. She said it’s all the unneeded add-ons that make the situation unacceptable.

“It was joined with a lot of other provisions that were driven by environmentalists,” she said. ”Certainly, I want clean air; we all do. But first we have to recognize that we are energy users – Illinoisans are not an island – our neighboring states produce and use carbon products.”

Niemerg said he is also worried the plan will lead to greater cost.

“Further, it violates private property rights by allowing Invenergy to use eminent domain to take private property away from private citizens in seven counties for the purpose of building a single transmission line, the Grain Belt Express direct current transmission line,” he said in a press release. “Private companies should not be able to take property away from citizens. It is just wrong."