East Central Reporter

One Republican lawmaker is demanding that his colleagues get back to work and overturn legislation he says is crippling the generation of energy.

State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) questioned the integrity of the Illinois power grid and whether or not it will be able to handle a surge in demand over the summer.

Niemerg called for his colleagues to return to Springfield to deal with questions about the state's energy supply in a Facebook post on Thursday.

"We need to get back to Springfield," he told The Center Square. "We need to repeal the Green New Deal. We need to bring Ameren [an energy supplier] to the table, and actually have a productive energy policy moving forward."

Niemerg shared a link to The Center Square story in the Facebook post. In the article, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) said renewable energy has not been able to keep up with the capacity lost by retiring fossil fuel plants. MISO is the federal grid operator that covers much of Illinois and other states in the Midwest. Its officials warned that the region could be short on energy when demand is high, and potential rolling blackouts could last from 15 minutes to an hour. 

Experts have weighed in on the reasons behind the power crunch, WICS reported. These reasons include rapidly retiring power plants, the rising cost of fuel, price hikes on solar panels, and the fact that new generators are not being installed.

The Illinois General Assembly passed the Clean Energy Jobs Act last year. 

Vox reported in 2019 that the proposed bill would set an aggressive target date of 2030 for decarbonizing the state's energy, with a complete shift to renewable energy by 2050. The plan to do so included deploying more than 40 million solar panels and 2,500 wind turbines. The law also sought to cut emissions from transportation and increase the number of people who work in the clean energy industry, along with a $20-billion investment in new infrastructure over the next decade.

Vox claimed that the bill also leans into many of the social justice ideas outlined in the Green New Deal resolution. 

"In the wake of federal reversals on climate action, the State of Illinois should pursue immediate action on policies that will ensure a just and responsible phase-out of fossil fuels from the power sector to reduce harmful emissions from Illinois power plants, support power plant communities and workers, and allow the clean energy economy to continue growing in every corner of Illinois," the text of the Clean Energy Jobs Act (SB 2132/HB 3624) reads.