By Kari Lydersen for Energy News Network.
Broadcast version by Terri Dee for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

The last time President Donald Trump took office, Illinois had just passed the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), creating an ambitious renewable electricity mandate, solar incentive programs, green job training and equity provisions to propel the state’s clean energy economy.

That progress is offering both a blueprint and a source of hope for Illinois clean energy and environmental justice advocates as they try to keep the state’s clean energy transition on track during a second Trump presidency.

“The state policy is designed to be responsive to a lack of federal climate leadership, to the need for Illinois to step up into a position of climate leadership,” said Vote Solar deputy Midwest program director John Delurey, who added that since the 2024 election “I’m at the point where I can channel my existential dread into state-based action.” 

Illinois lawmakers expanded on FEJA with the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021, and advocates expect another state energy bill in 2025 to prioritize energy storage and otherwise further clean energy goals, including planning for the mandatory closing of almost all fossil fuel generation by 2035. 

“With CEJA we’ve mapped out an ambitious climate plan, and we’re in a strong position to further those goals even under a Trump administration,” said Madeline Semanisin, Midwest equitable building decarbonization advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is not the first Trump administration. States and cities are more prepared this time to accelerate initiatives at the state and city level.” 

That’s not to say the state won’t be affected by a president who is hostile toward clean energy policy. Several federal tax credits and grants that have helped accelerate progress in Illinois could be at risk under Trump, and a rollback of federal environmental regulations or enforcement could prolong pollution from coal ash, power plants and other sources. 

James Gignac, Union of Concerned Scientists lead Midwest senior policy manager for the Climate & Energy program, said he thinks of the state’s clean energy outlook in terms of headwinds and tailwinds, which will continue to shift based on economic and political factors beyond the state’s control. 

“States for many years have not been able to rely on the federal government for climate action, whether due to politics or the Supreme Court,” Gignac said. “The election results will make it harder to achieve the goals that Illinois has established. It doesn’t fundamentally change the energy policy path that the state is on, it just makes it even more urgent that state legislators pass additional policies.” 

Tax credits and grants 

Federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other federal programs have helped Illinois and individual cities and counties carry out their clean energy goals. Illinois was awarded more than $430 million in a Climate Pollution Reduction Grant for implementation of the state’s goals on industrial decarbonization, clean energy, clean transportation and freight, climate-smart agriculture, and building energy efficiency. 

Illinois was also awarded $156 million in federal Solar for All funds to bolster solar and equity goals including workforce training, residential solar deployment, and community engagement.

Illinois advocates and experts said they expect federal funds that have already been awarded to be paid out, and they don’t expect the Trump administration and Republican-dominated Congress to make major changes to the IRA or infrastructure law, especially given the financial impact those laws have had in Republican-dominated areas. 

“We have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars for small businesses and farmers” paid out through the federal Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), not to mention federal IRA funds, that “overall are benefitting Republican districts” during the Biden administration, noted Angela Xu, Illinois Environmental Council municipal engagement manager. 

Even if new federal funding windfalls are not available in the future, advocates say the funds awarded during the Biden administration will have lasting impact, combined with state-level programs and funding sources that will continue, and market forces that are making clean energy increasingly competitive. 

“President-elect Trump has indicated his intention to roll back IRA programs, but keep in mind that when President Trump was elected last time, he and the Republican-led Senate and House were hellbent publicly on rolling back Obamacare, and that didn’t happen,” said Environmental Law & Policy Center executive director Howard Learner. 

“The IRA has supported smart, sensible renewable energy development in red states and blue and purple states,” he added. “There’s no question if President Trump tries to cut back and constrain the IRA, it will have some impact on the pace of renewable energy development and other climate change solutions. On the other hand, it’s very hard to keep better technology from growing. When new technologies come to the market and they are better and cleaner and economically sensible, they tend to accelerate and capture more market share.” 

Illinois Shines, the program creating lucrative Renewable Energy Credits for distributed solar, is funded through ratepayer payments — so it is not dependent on federal funding. That doesn’t mean it is immune from federal action, since the federal Investment Tax Credit and the global solar market influence the viability of projects in Illinois. 

“There are levers they can pull, through an act of Congress they can change the ITC, which is an important part of the value stack for renewables,” said Delurey, of Trump and his allies in Congress. “And they could deploy tariffs which make the landscape a lot more complicated. The U.S., thanks to the IRA, is making its way towards onshoring and bringing a lot of manufacturing back stateside, but we’re not quite there yet.” 

If the tax credit is reduced or solar panels get more expensive because of tariffs, Illinois’s incentives “would probably have to be adjusted accordingly,” Delurey said, with bigger incentives for each project. 

“It would just mean fewer megawatts and kilowatts in Illinois. We’d still be deploying solar, but it is sensitive to the price of clean energy.” 

Environmental justice 

Advocates agree that the Biden administration’s Justice 40 mandate, that 40% of the benefits of many federal climate and other programs go to disadvantaged communities, is likely to be ended or ignored by the Trump administration. 

Lower-income and marginalized communities could also be affected by understaffing, delays or rollbacks in federal programs like LIHEAP, which provides energy bill assistance, and energy efficiency rebates for low-income households. 

“We can put things in state legislation that supports these communities,” including in the Illinois energy bill being drafted for introduction in 2025, Semanisin said. “Justice 40 is a framework we can incorporate in state legislation as well, to prioritize people who have been historically underserved.” 

During his first administration, Trump made significant rollbacks to coal plant wastewater protections, and to the 2015 federal rules governing the storage and cleanup of coal ash. Both are big issues in Illinois, where eight coal plants are still operating, and coal ash is stored in 76 ponds, landfills and other sites, according to an Earthjustice analysis.

Earthjustice senior attorney Jenny Cassel said experts anticipate Trump will again try to weaken the Clean Water Act and coal ash protections. Meanwhile it’s likely the EPA under his administration will do little to enforce the coal ash regulations, which was largely the case before the Biden administration made coal ash a priority. 

Illinois passed its own state coal ash rules in 2019, after lobbying by activists who wanted to make sure the rules were at least as strong as federal rules and covered legacy ponds not included in federal rules at the time. In 2024, the federal rules were expanded to cover legacy ponds as well as historic ash and coal ash landfills, but that provision is being challenged in federal court. The state rules do not cover ash historically dumped or scattered around, and they also do not cover inactive coal ash landfills.

Meanwhile the implementation of the Illinois coal ash law has been extremely slow. The law requires each site to get an operating permit with pollution limits that can then be enforced, but so far only two permits at one coal plant site have been issued, Cassel said. 

“We keep hearing excuse after excuse” from the Illinois EPA that issues the permits, Cassel said. “‘We don’t have enough people, they’re tied up in administrative hearings, conditions are changing,’ every dog-ate-my-homework excuse in the book.”

“At the federal level, there’s any number of potential ways they could attempt to roll back the [coal ash] rules, or weaken areas that haven’t been fully defined,” she added. “That’s certainly what they did in round one. Illinois will really have to step up into the vacuum of protectiveness we expect at the federal level.”

Local action

Chicago — site of the 2024 Democratic National Convention — has long been a target of Trump’s ire, and Chicago officials during his last administration and today are outspoken about countering Trump’s agenda.

Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Tovar said the city will continue its work on solar, electric vehicles and building decarbonization, as well as centering environmental justice in planning, zoning and enforcement decisions.

“So much of everyone’s local regulations hinge on things like the Clean Air Act and federal standards; there is going to be this question of federal preemption, what home-rule authority do we have?” Tovar said. “Those are still outstanding questions. Every rollback will present its own set of challenges for cities and states. What I am at least grateful for in being in the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago is we do have such robust climate leadership at the state and local level.” 

The city’s environmental justice ordinance requires a holistic look at pollution — from traffic and other sources — when industrial development is proposed. That could help protect communities even if federal pollution limits are relaxed. The city has also launched an interdepartmental environmental justice working group, involving “every department that touches air, land and water,” as Tovar said. 

The city program Green Homes Chicago funds energy efficiency upgrades for qualifying single- and multi-family homes, which could help fill the gap if federal home rebates are reduced, Tovar noted. Chicago Recovery Plan funding from federal pandemic relief and city bond issuances could help compensate for any funding that might be lost if IRA is undermined, she added. 

“The role of cities and states becomes even increasingly more important right now,” Tovar said. “We have an ability to really demonstrate leadership in this moment. For cities like Chicago that have already made some progress, it’s up to us to ensure we’re sharing best practices and working together to really create those safeguards and fortify basic environmental and health protections at a local level. We’re certainly going to maintain our commitment, make sure we are rolling out our programs, and unwavering in our pursuit of environmental justice.”


Kari Lydersen wrote this article for Energy News Network.

A federal proposal moving through Congress could stall Michigan's booming rooftop solar industry by ending key tax credits that have fueled clean energy growth, nationwide.

What is being called the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" would eliminate the 30% credit for rooftop solar and other home energy systems, including those leased by companies.

Michigan leads the nation in Inflation Reduction Act-funded projects, attracting more than $27 billion in investment and creating more than 26,000 jobs.

Allan O'Shea, founder and CEO of 50-year-old CBS Solar in Copemish, said about 90% of his family-owned business is residential rooftop solar.

"That 90% would lose one of the benefits that go with solar and that's a 30% tax credit," O'Shea pointed out. "The other 10% of our business is commercial and it would survive but the damage would be done. We're talking 25+ employees here."

O'Shea sent a heartfelt letter to most senators, expressing concerns about the bill's effects on his livelihood and others'. Supporters of the big tax-cut and spending bill argued it would boost the economy and strengthen national security.

Backers also said the bill delivers the biggest tax cut in U.S. history for those earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year, with 15% off their taxes. O'Shea emphasized he and his customers are money-smart and value long-term investments, adding the issue is not the goal, but how the bill is being pushed through.

"I just hope for the saner minds, the senators and the Congress people that we have in Michigan, to step up and slow the pace down," O'Shea urged. "You can sunset it."

In 2023, solar power jumped 51% nationwide, with solar making up more than half of all the new electricity added to the grid.


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A new analysis of what Congressional lawmakers have dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act found it would eliminate thousands of jobs in South Dakota and slow economic growth.

The bill's current language repeals multiple federal policies, funding programs and tax credits meant to boost American clean energy and manufacturing.

Daniel O'Brien, senior modeling analyst for the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation, said South Dakota could lose as many as 1,600 jobs by 2030 as funding is diverted to jobs in the coal, oil and gas industries.

"Those are but a fraction of the number of jobs that are being lost in manufacturing, construction, utilities, farming and agriculture," O'Brien explained.

O'Brien noted up to 840,000 jobs nationwide could be eliminated over the next five years if the current bill remains intact. It repeals more than $500 billion in Inflation Reduction Act investments, which some House Republicans have dubbed a "green new scam."

South Dakota households currently benefit from low energy prices, partly due to the growth of renewable energy. The industry has drawn more manufacturing to the state, along with data centers in need of large amounts of cheap power. But the analysis showed a shift toward fossil fuels will increase annual statewide energy bills by more than $180 million by 2035.

O'Brien stressed industries looking to reduce costs may choose to operate elsewhere.

"When you repeal these tax credits, you lose the incentivization of companies to build out cheap renewables in South Dakota," O'Brien pointed out. "For that reason, companies that are relying on their cheap power might go to other states or they might move outside of the U.S."

He added gas prices are also expected to rise with the repeal of EPA rules on vehicle tailpipe emissions and fuel economy standards. Zero-emission vehicle sales in South Dakota are expected to fall from more than 50% in 2030 to around 30% over the next five years.

As Washington D.C.'s sole gas company continues a multi-billion dollar, 40-year project to replace methane pipes, clean energy advocates argue the projects are misguided and alternatives to gas pipes are better for public health and the environment.

Washington Gas's plan will upgrade 200 miles of gas pipes in the District, costing more than $200 million for the third phase of pipe replacement, paid for by rate hikes on consumers.

In February, a majority of District council members signed a letter urging the Public Service Commission to direct the company to focus only on pipes that need to be fixed.

The company has fallen behind on a similar project in Maryland.

Claire Mills, District of Columbia campaigns manager with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said many pipes being replaced are plastic and less than 25 years old.

She says only lead pipes over 40 years old are likely to leak.

"Even small gas leaks that don't have the potential to explode," said Mills, "are putting methane gas, which is a hugely powerful greenhouse gas, into our atmosphere and creating climate change."

Washington Gas claims in a brochure that the D.C. project has led to the creation of more than 600 jobs. The company also argues it cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5,000 metric tons.

Since 2018, when the District project began, the number of gas leaks across the District has decreased by nearly 25%, according to the Public Service Commission.

There were more than 1,200 instances of the gas leaks in 2023.

Mills says groups like hers are urging the Public Service Commission to create a plan that transitions the District to clean electricity, rather than doubling down on methane gas.

"Even if your gas pipe is all good, just burning methane gas in your home in your gas stove or your furnace has really negative health impacts," said Mills. "So in the long term, the real solution to this problem is moving the District off of methane gas through a managed transition that takes a serious approach."

The Public Service Commission is holding a hearing on the project tomorrow at its office in downtown D.C. at 5:30 p.m.