Dive Brief:

• A new bipartisan amendment to an Illinois clean energy bill would require the Illinois Power Agency, which buys wholesale electricity on behalf of utility customers, to get up to $30 million of renewable power, mostly from solar.
• The changes to bill HB 2427 should breathe life back into clean energy in the state, whose clean energy law was the subject of recently proposed -- and subsequently vanquished -- reforms. The law, environmentalists argue, makes it practically impossible to fund new renewable generation under current market dynamics.
• If the bill passes and Gov. Pat Quinn signs it into law, both of which are expected, then the Illinois Power Agency will have 90 days to plan its procurement, with bidding for projects due to begin in early 2015.

Dive Insight:

The amendment is supported by the state's biggest utility, Exelon, and environmental groups, who say that it could be the boost Illinois needs to get rooftop solar into the state.

“National solar companies have looked at Illinois with interest," Sarah Wochos, senior policy advocate for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said​. "We hope this bill kick-starts that.”

Exelon stands to gain from the new bill: Its 10 MW solar farm in south Chicago can bid for procurement, and the utility could propose new large-scale solar farms as well.

The Environmental Protection Agency “soon will release new rules regulating greenhouse gases from power plants," Exelon said. "It is anticipated that they will require each state to develop a comprehensive plan to maintain and expand clean energy resources like wind, nuclear, hydro and solar energy. We look forward to working with stakeholders on ways to maintain the state’s clean energy edge.”