Transcript:

In January, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois signed a law designed to increase the use of clean energy in the state by investing in energy storage.

Chintam: “The wind isn’t always blowing, and the sun isn’t always shining. … Battery storage really solves that problem by being able to store excess clean energy and release it later, especially during times when folks are using a lot of energy.”

Kavi Chintam is with Vote Solar, a nonprofit that helped draft the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act.

The law directs the state’s power agency to acquire three gigawatts of battery storage within about five years. That’s enough to power millions of homes during hours when the demand for energy is high.

By storing clean energy when it’s cheap and abundant, the batteries will help utilities avoid turning to more expensive fossil fuels to meet surges in demand.

Customers will see a charge on their bills for battery storage.

Chintam: “But ultimately the savings are shown through analysis to be greater than the cost.”

Overall, this investment in batteries is expected to save people billions of dollars on their utility bills over the next 20 years – and speed up the transition to clean energy.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media