Spencer Foust of the McDonough County Voice notes that FEJA plans to provide 180 million dollars per year with the prospect of growing it to 220 million dollars to fund the construction of wind and solar farms in the state. According to Spenser Foust, the Illinois government plans to power at least one million homes through rooftop solar arrays by 2021. It also plans to improve integration into the electricity grid to ensure better net metering. This will create jobs in both the construction and maintenance of such systems (Foust, 2019). Fox & Scott (2018), in their book ‘Sustainable Electricity II: A conversation on tradeoffs,’ identifies the state of Illinois as one of the most advanced in the implementation of a smart grid (Page 112). The state is well on its way to protecting the consumer while providing more energy choices. The challenge remaining to fast-track the achievement of a 100% clean and renewable energy sector is energy storage technology. Current batteries lack sufficient capacity to store surplus energy during low consumption or high production periods and make it available during pick periods or when production declines. For example, surplus energy produced during summer when the sun is shining and wind blowing should be available during the winter when the sun does not shine as much (Foust, 2019). The state of Illinois has passed laws and is in the process of legislating more policies that will help it transition into clean renewable energy smoothly and within a short time. Different companies are working tirelessly to solve the problem of storage and current prospects are promising. At the current rate, Illinois is well on its way to achieving its target of 100% clean renewable energy by 2050.
References
Foust, S. (2019). Town Hall talks about renewable energy for Illinois. Retrieved 8 November 2019, from https://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/20191022/town-hall-talks-renewable-energy-for-illinois
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Fox, J., & Scott, M. (2018). Sustainable Electricity II (p. 112). New York: Springer.
