East Central Reporter

Illinois Republicans are urging state legislators to reconvene in Springfield in response to rising energy costs. At a recent news conference held at Embaras bar and grill in Villa Grove, business owner Ryan Garett described the impact of increased energy bills on his operations.

“You get a $3,000 bill when you’re not really expecting it. It raises your costs $1,000 in a month, you can’t budget for that,” Garett said. “You can’t plan for that. And then, it has a trickle down effect. We’re at the point where we’ve had to cut back on hours for some of our employees and take up those hours ourselves because we can’t, you know, keep up with payroll to pay that stuff.”

State Representative Chris Miller criticized current state energy policies and called for renewed use of coal resources.

“We have over 200 billion tons of big, beautiful coal available. All we have to do is go get it,” Miller said. “It would be a tremendous driver for jobs and opportunity. This whole CEJA thing, this whole green energy scam needs to be thrown in the garbage where it belongs.”

Miller was elected as a Republican to the Illinois State House in 2023 and represents the 101st House District after succeeding Reggie Phillips (https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_84e8700a-517d-453e-a494-d4ef413f8f7e.html).