Dive Brief:
- Illinois lawmakers easily passed a measure in December allowing utilities to continue developing and charging rates around their smart grid programs, but have delayed sending the bill to the governor's desk, the Chicago Tribune reports, because of apprehensions from the outgoing governor.
- The measure passed the Senate 40-4 but Senate President John Cullerton used a parlimentary procedure to hold the measure back from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's desk.
- Supporters may be waiting until incoming Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner takes office next week, hoping for a better chance to get the bill signed into law
Dive Insight:
When Illinois' new governor takes office next week, lawmakers in the state will have only a couple of days to send him legislation allowing ComEd and Ameren to continue developing their smart grid programs. The measure passed easily in December but was then held back for reconsideration. This could allow the bill to be finalized after Gov. Quinn, not known for signing bills friendly to utilities, leaves office but before the new legislature comes in.
Gov.-elect Rauner will be sworn in on Jan. 12 and the new legislature comes in on the 14th, according to the Chicago Tribune. "They're waiting for me to leave," Quinn told the newspaper.
Quinn had a veto overridden on the original smart grid legislation in 2011, and observers believe there is a chance he could reject the new bill as well. The measure extends the tariffs by two years but leaves in place a Dec. 31, 2017, deadline for state regulators to "prepare and file with the General Assembly a report on the infrastructure program and the performance-based formula rate."
