Illinois back in the smart grid game

A few weeks ago, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed Senate Bill 1652, the “smart grid bill” set to pump up funding for new technology in the state. Yesterday, the General Assembly overturned that veto, and the state, once again, has a sunny smart grid future.

Just a couple of weeks ago, right here on this blog, I noted that resuscitating that bill was highly unlikely. Today, I have to eat those words.

It passed---this despite a last ditch effort from local mayors writing in the Chicago Tribune calling ComEd to the carpet for “inadequate” responses to power outages and lamenting that the smart grid bill doesn’t address outage issues like ComEd claims.

The mayors wrote:
But does Senate Bill 1652 adequately address ComEd's inadequate responses to crisis and non-crisis related power outages? Does it ensure communication of accurate information to local governments and customers during an outage? Does it resolve downed power lines blocking a fire station driveway for four straight days?

Sadly, it does not. The fact is that Senate Bill 1652 fails to address ComEd's systematic shortfalls or hold ComEd accountable to its customers in a meaningful and transparent manner.

ComEd, on the other hand, says that’s exactly what 1652 does---help address issues like communication and response time.

"Today, the General Assembly took a historic step toward creating a stronger Illinois that will help us deliver more value and better service to the 3.8 million customers we proudly serve," said ComEd President and Chief Operating Officer Anne Pramaggiore. "We thank our supporters in the General Assembly for their leadership."

Now, there were a few concessions to get this override. A trailer bill tightened performance standards, dropped return on equity and established an assistance fund, along with redirecting about $200 million to undergrounding lines, since the area had such a horrible time with storms this year.

But, the governor wasn’t going down with a final punch or two. He released a statement when the trailer bill came along saying “unfortunately, this movie still has the same unhappy ending: blockbuster annual rate hikes for consumers and businesses.”

In the end, though, ComEd and the advancement of the smart grid did get at least a Star Wars-esque movie ending in Illinois---they got “new hope.” The 10-year, $2.6 billion program is back on track---faster than anyone expected.