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* AP…
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says legislation that provides billions of dollars in subsidies to power giant Exelon Corp. is imperfect but that he’s “proud” of the deal lawmakers reached.
The measure approved Thursday provides $235 million per year to Exelon to keep unprofitable nuclear plants running in Clinton and the Quad Cities. More than 4 million customers of power-distributing subsidiaries ComEd and Ameren will pay more to finance the plan.
Rauner has previously blasted “special deals” for corporations. On Thursday he vetoed additional state money for Chicago Public Schools, calling it a “bailout.”
The Republican, who’s expected to sign the Exelon bill, said Friday that Clinton and the Quad Cities communities would have been “devastated” if those plants closed.
* The Quad City Times, where one of the plants is located, hailed the bill’s passage…
For a few days, Illinois touted a functioning government, and the sudden bit of 11th-hour bipartisanship salvaged nuclear plants in Cordova and Clinton, Illinois. […]
This time, Gov. Bruce Rauner showed real leadership. For months, his administration was oddly silent on the Exelon bill. Only when it really mattered did Rauner and his staff speak up, leveraging its full political muscle to shape something palatable to Rauner, pro-business Republicans and environmentally minded Democrats. Rauner’s administration said late Thursday that the Exelon bill is expected to be signed into law.
Madigan, too, backed off on his “poison pill.” Finally, Illinois’ dominant speaker freed his members to speak for themselves.
* Tom Kacich had a different take…
It made for another sad commentary on a Legislature that seems impotent and fearful in the ongoing budget dispute between Rauner and Michael Madigan, but was willing and able to take tough votes to assist a profitable corporation.
* Crain’s was more direct…
The governor’s team actively worked to craft the Exelon bailout. Too bad the only time Rauner and Democrats in the General Assembly found common cause, it was to do the state harm.
Ouch.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 2:49 pm
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According to recent news reports, Rauner is going to sign this at the Clinton High School on Wednesday. No AV’s??? He’ll own the legacy if things go wonkee because of the slap-dash passage.
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 2:55 pm
===The governor’s team actively worked to craft the Exelon bailout. Too bad the only time Rauner and Democrats in the General Assembly found common cause, it was to do the state harm.===
Notice to Ds running for governor; don’t just run against Rauner, run against Springfield. (Sorry Springfield).
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 2:57 pm
We can find a way to bail out billion dollar companies but we just can’t figure out how to keep our schools/social services going….great campaign slogan. So many folks showed their misplaced priorities last week!!
Comment by anon1776 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:07 pm
$235 million a year surtax on consumers divided by 1,500 “saved” jobs equals $157K a job per year.
Is that the kind of “job creatin’” we can look forward to?
Mind you, consumers don’t get anything more — they’re already paying for that. It’s just $235 million out of their pockets and into that of the corporation that banked $2.2 billion in profits last year.
That’s $235 million out of consumers pockets that they could have decided themselves where to spend and “create” jobs through their marketplace choices.
And Exelon continues to sell that surplus capacity out of state.
Do you see Rauner and the Superstars never talk numbers or ROI on their proposals?
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:24 pm
Oy vey. Remind me of that roll call again?
Comment by A guy Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:25 pm
Clinton and Quad cities schools would be devastated if not for the $235 million per year to start bailout for an extremely profitable Exelon company. A nice white bailout.
All Black and Latino caucus members remember the week Rauner called “bailing” out your schools a bad deal and stopped making it easier for your constituents to get more voices to the voting booth.
Also don’t think for one minute your constituents aren’t going to pay more for the electric bailout to make sure Clinton and the Quad Cities stay viable.
Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:44 pm
Two things: P U
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:51 pm
–Oy vey. Remind me of that roll call again?–
It was bipartisan. The deal was brokered in the governor’s office and he’s proud of it, which is the subject of the thread. The clue is in the headline.
You said it was a jobs bill that would cure the “unpredictability” of electrical power (and gasoline, too) that has existed in your mind for so long.
Are you proud of that $157K a year, per job? $235 million a year paid more by 4 million consumers (for something they’re paying for already) to “save” 1,500 jobs? How many jobs do you think could be “saved” or “created” by consumers spending that money on their own in the marketplace?
As to that “unpredictability” of electrical power: QC and Clinton have been on-line for decades. Was electrical power “unpredictable,” in your mind, all that time? How does bailing them out change that?
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:51 pm
How about a trailer bill repealing the law and the RPS. Problems solved.
Comment by Postbot 6000 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:54 pm
When the final analysis of this bill comes out, its going to be ugly. Rauner should hold off signing until he sees it.
Comment by Don't do it Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 3:54 pm
“Only when it really mattered did Rauner and his staff speak up, leveraging its full political muscle to shape something palatable to Rauner, pro-business Republicans and environmentally minded Democrats.” Yep everyone except taxpayers and consumers.
Comment by Michael Westen Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:03 pm
Don’t forget amendment 10 changed the effective date since they knew they didn’t have the 71 votes. Such an embarrassing action to bailout a hugely profitable corporation while so many suffer from the state not having a budget
Comment by Illoyned Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:05 pm
It’s interesting that Rauner gets what he wants from the ILRB and Samolis gets what he wants for Exelon. Hmmmmmm
Comment by Honeybear Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:07 pm
==It was bipartisan.==
See Sling. You correctly answered in 3 words.
And then, went a little off road. Are you debating that this Energy Bill doesn’t have a jobs component to it? It certainly does. I don’t know precisely how old you are, but I do know that you’re old enough to remember many energy shortages, crises, etc. that skyrocketed rates and greatly inconvenienced people. You’ve never seen a gasoline shortage or situation that caused the price to go well over $4? You biking now?
I do remember rolling brown outs, serious service outages, all manner of power problems. It just must not ever happen in Oak Park. That has improved dramatically in DuPage. Sump pumps have been able to continue running during storm events.
It’s not a great deal. It’s many times better than how it started. The majority party needed to ensure whatever passed would be signed. The bill got a lot better because of it. Aside from here, I don’t hear anyone even talking about this. At all.
Comment by A guy Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:08 pm
It’s about time the ILGA worked together in non partisan manor…The annual economic loss to Illinois was touted at over $ 1 billion. Utility tax to state coffers $250 mill, lost jobs and destroyed local economies would face untold damage. Is it perfect ? Probably not, but it’s better than the losses to the economy.
Comment by NorthSideNomore Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:12 pm
I would wager folks down south in coal country are not proud. I’ll bet they are ticked off.
Comment by yeah Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:17 pm
“It’s not a great deal. It’s many many many times better than when it started.” A Guy.
No, it’s not, This started as a $2.5 billion bailout and ended as an $11 billion (and possibly as high as $14 billion - we’re still running the numbers). The energy efficiency spending is going to cost Ameren customers an additional $3.89/month on their bill, escalating 4% per year. So you’ll pay that, plus the nuke bailout, plus the RPS, plus the voltage optimization, etc. You’ll pay it every month. You won’t see the savings until years later, if ever. But they’ll assert massive “savings” in order to claim they are under the fictional rate caps.
Comment by BEST Dave Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:27 pm
Oh, and the brown outs and blackouts? We have 41% more power than we need and demand is declining 1% a year before the new EE spending. That is the biggest red herring of all.
Comment by BEST Dave Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:28 pm
BEST Dave-so we’ll put you down as a “no” on the Clinton ceremony to sign the bill Wednesday.
Comment by OurMagician Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:41 pm
This year its 41% and last year you were putting out that it was 20%, you can’t seem to keep your numbers straight. Fear mongering at its finest.
Comment by Nice Try Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:48 pm
Just in case you missed this little nugget…
“Shares jumped as much as 3 percent on Friday, and traded at $32.98 at 9:40 a.m. in New York. The stock is up 19 percent this year. ”
http://m.tdworld.com/news/exelon-gets-nuclear-financial-aid
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:52 pm
BEST Dave :
All great points, but unless someone has the cash to push for a vote to repeal the rate hike, the BEST you can do is push the #RateHikeRauner meme and hope to extract a pound of flesh.
Comment by Juvenal Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:57 pm
It is amazing to hear some of the opinions of people who strictly oppose this bill. I would venture to say the “BEST” ones come from people that are paid by other interests to defeat this bill and have absolutely no Better Energy Solution for Tomorrow. I believe someone earlier called it fear mongering, I’ll call it politicking. They aren’t doing anything but represent their own interests, which isn’t the common people.
Comment by Anon Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:03 pm
I noticed Comed is involved in holding up the Rock Island Clean Line project, which would bring in a lot of wind power from Iowa. Part of this bailout deal should require Comed to drop their obstruction of competing power suppliers.
Comment by DuPage Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:06 pm
The passage of the nuke bailout reveals, once again, how corrupt and incompetent the state legislature and this governor is.
Comment by ultra Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:32 pm
Guy, you have any more $157K a year per job “jobs programs” you want to stick consumers with?
As to your gasoline “points,” you’re aware that Exelon is not refining petroleum, correct?
As usual, you’re flopping around grasping at straws, oblivious to the actual substance of the issue at hand.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:32 pm
DuPage- another convolution in this saga…
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150530/ISSUE01/305309994/exelons-nuke-partner-is-also-a-rival
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:34 pm
It is very possible that some of these towers are being built in Clinton, IL at the Trinity plant.
https://tinyurl.com/ja4nx78
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:41 pm
“- Nice Try - Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 4:48 pm:
This year its 41% and last year you were putting out that it was 20%, you can’t seem to keep your numbers straight. Fear mongering at its finest.”
I have no idea what you’re talking about. My numbers come from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Admininstration. Even Exelon eventually admitted I was right about that and stopped using their scare tactics on brown outs. I never would have said last year that it was 20% because it wasn’t.
Comment by BEST Dave Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:50 pm
“They aren’t doing anything but represent their own interests, which isn’t the common people.”
As opposed to those paragon’s of the common man at ComEd/Exelon with their 55 lobbyists?
Comment by BEST Dave Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 5:53 pm
who thinks Exelon was going to shudder those plants?
Comment by foster brooks Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 6:45 pm
Well, foster, this is the first year I’ve actually heard Clinton community leaders admit that they need to start planning for a future without the plant. Before this, anyone who even suggested as such was brushed off as not having the community’s best interests in mind. The plant was going to run for decades yet, they insisted. Now, instead of 40 years, they admit that time may run out in 10-13 … The lifetime of this bill.
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 7:06 pm
Soon to be on Facebook, pictures of a smilin’ Bruce & folks from the Quad Cities.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 7:21 pm
Amen Crain’s!
I know it will cost the State more, but part of me hopes Dynegy sues and wins on its claim of market favoritism. I just hope the other provisions of the bill (eg: RPS fix) are severable.
Comment by Nobody Sent Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 7:44 pm
This will go down as Rauner’s bail out … of a massive & profitable energy company subsidized by more money from rate-payers. Rauner will own this, on his own. Bi-partisan, schmartisan.
This will be even more remembered if this is the only bill of consequence Rauner signs this session.
Comment by Deft Wing Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 8:12 pm
Rauner likes this bill so much, he’s signing it twice;)
http://www.qconline.com/news/local/rauner-to-sign-exelon-bill-wednesday-at-riverdale-school/article_45335aca-785e-5cee-a1f6-a5a041f6fa00.html
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 5, 16 @ 10:36 pm
Hades froze over today. I just agreed with Tom Kacich!
Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Dec 6, 16 @ 8:02 am
===Guy, you have any more $157K a year per job “jobs programs” you want to stick consumers with?
As to your gasoline “points,” you’re aware that Exelon is not refining petroleum, correct?
As usual, you’re flopping around grasping at straws, oblivious to the actual substance of the issue at hand.===
In order Sling:
Nope. Do you have any suggestion for replacing those good jobs in those communities or are you prepared to simply let them die? They aren’t producing the cheapest energy, but the commodity they produce has value and provides an option when others have failed. (polar vortex not so long ago)
I do know Exelon doesn’t produce gasoline. I also know that natural gas and electricity are now a growing part of the energy for powering vehicles. I also know that electricity and petroleum do have a relationship. To suggest otherwise is utterly ridiculous. You’re too smart for that.
I would humbly suggest to you that I have a lot of grasp at the issue at hand. I wasn’t directly in this battle; I’m not a member of the GA or a Lobbyist firm or the Governor’s staff. But I did indirectly work on this closely with people who were in the battle. It’s not the same, but it affords one a grasp.
Be nice. It’s Yule time.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Dec 6, 16 @ 9:18 am