Rich Miller at the Capitol Fax reports:
"GREEN" ENERGY BILL COMING Crain’s Chicago Business reported over the weekend that a bill will be introduced soon to require the state’s electric utilities to purchase a portion of their power from renewable sources.
The bill, which will be sponsored by Sen. Pat Welch (D-Peru), will force electric companies to buy 5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010, and 15 pecent by 2020. The utilities question the reliability and availability of alternative sources like wind power and say it costs more. But proponents claim the cost is about the same for wind and natural gas (3 cents per kilowatt-hour for gas and 3 to 4 cents for wind), and say the initial 5 percent requirement is sufficiently modest. Several companies are hoping to build "wind farms" in central Illinois, according to the article, but the investments may not be made without the legislation.
This is great news. One of the critical aspects of encouraging green energy is creating a market for it. This would provide for competition between such suppliers and in the short description, ultimately make it affordable.