Illinois is poised to lift its long-standing moratorium on the construction of large-scale nuclear power plants, with the passage of a sweeping energy bill set to be signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in a matter of days.
Senate Bill 25, also known as the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, made its way through the state’s General Assembly this week and received its final approval from Senate lawmakers Thursday evening.
The bill, which has been negotiated and debated for over a year, will offer new subsidies for energy storage projects, including battery installations. These subsidies are expected to show up as a new charge on Illinois customers’ energy bills starting in 2030.
While critics argue that this will result in guaranteed rate increases for consumers, supporters of the provision insist that the installation of energy storage systems will ultimately save customers money and lower their electricity bills.
The sweeping energy package also orders utilities to create virtual power plants, enabling them to utilize small-scale projects, such as residential solar or home-based batteries, to deliver consistent energy to consumers.
One measure that received broad bipartisan support was the lifting of Illinois’ moratorium on large-scale nuclear power plants.
The construction of nuclear power plants was first temporarily barred in the state in 1987 due to the lack of a permanent solution for disposing of high-level nuclear waste.
This moratorium was partially lifted in 2023, when Pritzker signed a bill allowing for the construction of small modular reactors. Just months before, he vetoed similar legislation that included a broad definition of “advanced reactors,” which he said at the time would allow for the construction of costly, large-scale nuclear reactors.
The Democratic governor appeared to reverse this position earlier this year, as a nuclear energy renaissance has swept the nation, with more states, both Republican and Democratic-led, moving forward with reopening decommissioned plants and pursuing new nuclear projects.
In August, Pritzker suggested that lifting the moratorium could help the state address rising energy costs. “We already got rid of it on small modular nuclear. We can do that on large nuclear. It’s going to be an important part of a transition to renewable energy everywhere,” he said at the time.
Pritzker is expected to sign the recently passed bill in the coming days.
Nuclear energy advocates and climate groups celebrated the passage of the energy legislation, with the Clean Air Task Force saying lifting the moratorium will help the state support its climate goals while achieving grid reliability.
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“The deadline for achieving Illinois’s own goal of 100% carbon-free energy by midcentury is quickly approaching, and the state needs clean firm power to help meet rising energy demand without worsening climate change or sacrificing air quality,” Wibke Heymach, senior Midwest state policy manager at Clean Air Task Force, said in a statement. “Nuclear energy is an important part of Illinois’s energy mix and supports the build-out of additional renewable energy sources.”
Some have suggested that the bill did not go far enough to support the nuclear energy industry, as it includes new fees for existing nuclear power plant operators.
