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How ComEd defections are killing green power in Illinois
With abnormally high utility rates prompting municipalities to contract with alternative power suppliers, the IPA's customer base is expected to shrink by as much as two-thirds next year. It will bar more long-term deals with renewable-energy developers. That's because the higher-than-market prices that wind and solar developments require would raise rates for the remaining utility customers by more than the 2 percent limit imposed by state law.
July 16, 2012
by Steve Daniels
in Crain's Chicago Business
Chicago's recent move to join more than 100 suburbs in allowing residents to buy cheaper power than that offered by Commonwealth Edison Co. could kill the construction of any more wind farms or other large-scale renewable-energy facilities in Illinois, clean-energy companies say.
Two major state energy laws have combined in an unanticipated fashion to make new wind farms and large-scale solar facilities impossible to finance. One requires an increasing percentage of the power consumed here to come from clean sources. The other allows municipalities to buy cheap electricity in bulk on behalf of their constituents.
Last year, developers in Illinois... [continue via Web link]
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