Illinois's energy consumption

Summary: Illinois has long exploited rich coal deposits, which it has used to develop an extensive supply of coal-powered energy that has since been augmented by nuclear power plants and alternative energy sources.

Illinois is located in the midwestern United States, bordered by Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Lake Michigan. The fifth most populous state, with a population in excess of 12.8 million citizens, Illinois’s diverse population, central location, and mixture of urban, suburban, small-town, and rural residents make the state a bellwether of social and political culture and trends. With a significant economy in both the industrial and service sectors, Illinois produces large amounts of its own energy needs yet is still a net importer of fuel. Illinois enjoys major coal deposits, is a leading refiner of petroleum, and has made significant investments in wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources.

Illinois has long served as one of the United States’ leaders in manufacturing. The manufacturing industry added an estimated $106.2 billion worth of value to the state's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022. Leading sectors include chemical, machinery, food, fabricated metals, transportation, plastics, and computer manufacturing. In recent decades, Illinois’s strong manufacturing base has been augmented by burgeoning growth in high-value services, such as finance, law, higher education, logistics, and medicine. Reliable and affordable sources of energy being necessary for all of these, Illinois has invested in infrastructure that assures steady and reliable sources for various users.

Since the middle of the 19th century, Illinois has been a leading producer of coal. According to studies conducted as a part of the Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois has approximately 211 billion tons of bituminous coal, representing an equivalent amount in total heating value greater than that of the oil deposits extant in the Arabian Peninsula. Although plentiful, Illinois coal has a high sulfur content and requires special equipment to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions when burned in order to prevent acid rain. Furthermore, because of technological and economic constraints, not all coal can be extracted; as of 2021, an estimated 38 billion tons were believed to be recoverable from Illinois' deposits. In 2022, Illinois produced about 594 million short tons of coal, much of which was used in Illinois, with the remainder exported to other states or other countries. Illinois coal-burning power plants purchase much of the remainder of the coal used from the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. In an effort to produce a near-zero-emissions coal-powered plant, the US Department of Energy (DOE) sought to sponsor a FutureGen power plant, at one point to be built in Matoon, Illinois, and later at a Meredosia, Illinois, plant retrofitted with advanced oxy-combustion technology. FutureGen was a DOE initiative that sought to use coal to generate electricity while harnessing carbon capture and storage to eliminate, or severely reduce, emissions generally associated with coal-burning plants. A series of delays led municipal leaders from Matoon to withdraw support, and in 2015, the DOE pulled funding from FutureGen amid lawsuits over permitting and a lack of time to complete it before funds allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would expire.

Illinois has relatively few proven crude oil reserves, with those known accounting for 0.1 percent of those in the United States. Despite this, Illinois ranks sixteenth in crude oil production among states, with an annual output of 7.397 barrels in 2021. Illinois is among the leading refiners of petroleum, however, with an atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity of up to 1 million barrels per day in 2023. Less than 1 percent of Illinois’s homes are heated with heating oil; just under 80 percent of residents use natural gas for their heating needs, and the rest use electricity or alternative sources.

Nuclear Power

With about half of its electricity generated using nuclear power, Illinois leads the nation in both nuclear capacity and nuclear generation. Illinois was home to the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, which was built on the campus of the University of Chicago. Illinois is home to six operating nuclear power plants. For a period, beginning during the 1970s, strong opposition existed to nuclear power, largely centered on concerns regarding its safety.

Renewable Energy

Illinois has seen interest in the use of wind-generated power increase. The DOE rated most of Illinois as “marginal” or “fair” as a potential place for wind energy production, with only a few areas in western Illinois rated as “good” for such use. Despite this, several areas of Illinois have become home to wind farms, taking advantage of newer, taller wind turbines. Annually, Illinois wind farms, solar installations, and geothermal power units generate about 7,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, with the bulk of that energy coming from wind. In 2022, Illinois ranked fifth among the states in wind production. Although less than 6 percent of Illinois’ electricity is generated by wind, it is estimated that wind power could ultimately provide more than 11 percent of the state’s electricity. Large Illinois wind farms are in EcoGrove, Mendota Hills, Railsplitter, and Twin Groves.

In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation that mandated that, by 2025, more than 25 percent of all electricity in the state would be generated from renewable resources. As interest in alternative sources of energy has increased, Illinois has also used its status as the number-two corn grower to become a major ethanol producer. Ethanol, used as a motor fuel or additive to gasoline, has become popular in part because it reduces emissions of carbon monoxide and particulates, both of which contribute to air pollution, smog, and other negative environmental effects. As of 2017, Illinois corn was used to produce 11.2 percent of the United States’ ethanol, and Archer Daniels Midland Company, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, has its headquarters located in Decatur, Illinois. Within a decade, demand for ethanol soared in the United States, with production increasing from about 1,770,000,000 gallons in 2001 to 13,230,000,000 gallons in 2010. Much of this demand was spurred by higher gasoline prices and local and state legislation that demanded that many cars run on at least 10 percent ethanol in an effort to improve air quality. As of 2023, Illinois produced an estimated 1.4 billion gallons of ethanol per year. There is some controversy related to the use of corn to produce ethanol, as corn is less efficient than other choices, such as sugarcane, and it consumes a food source for fuel.

Utilities

A variety of power utilities provide electricity to individuals and commercial concerns in Illinois. Of these, Ameren Corporation and Commonwealth Edison provide the vast majority of electricity to customers in the state. Ameren, which evolved from a merger between Central Illinois Public Services Company, Union Electric Company, and Illinois Power Company, serves customers in downstate Illinois and Missouri, while Commonwealth Edison, now a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, serves most of northern Illinois and the city of Chicago.

Power supplies in Illinois have been affected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Order 888, which opened access to the national transmission grids. Subsequent FERC orders established an open energy market and rules for participation in it. In response, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997, which ordered Illinois utilities such as Ameren and Commonwealth Edison to permit their customers the option of purchasing power from other suppliers. These changes caused Commonwealth Edison to divest itself of its power-generating plants, although it sold them to another subsidiary of its parent corporation.

Continued disputes between Ameren and Commonwealth Edison, on the one hand, and the Illinois General Assembly, on the other hand, led to the establishment of the Illinois Power Agency in 2007. The Illinois Power Agency is responsible for developing and implementing energy procurement for Illinois utilities.

Policy

Chicago, Illinois’s largest city and the nation’s third-largest, has worked to transform itself into an energy-efficient juggernaut. Although Chicago has always been associated with the commercial aspects of the energy industry, it was not until recently that the city began to become a leader green urbanism. Chicago has long had an enviable mass transit system, run by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), using buses, trains, and subways to move an estimated 515.3 million passengers per year.

These CTA riders pay a fare, partially subsidized by the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, to ride to a variety of destinations. CTA uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to allow more of its buses to travel on schedule. CTA’s use of GPS also helps to avoid the problem of buses “bunching,” or traveling along a line simultaneously rather than proceeding according to a set schedule. CTA helps to promote the environment by taking cars off the road and, through the use of environmentally friendly fuels, powering its trains and buses with electricity, natural gas, and ultra-low-sulfur diesel, all of which reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

The city of Chicago has also taken the lead in implementing policy changes so that it is more environmentally friendly and conserves energy. As early as 2001, the city sought to acquire at least 20 percent of its power from clean sources within five years. In 2022, city leaders introduced a plan to have Chicago get 100 percent of its energy from clean, renewable resources by 2025.

Chicago has also worked to retrofit parts of its infrastructure so that it requires less energy. For example, on a trip to Germany, Mayor William M. Daley observed “green” roofs on the tops of buildings—that is, buildings where the typical asphalt or other commercial coverings had been topped by earth and plants. Upon his return to Chicago, Daley ordered that the city hall have a green roof put in place. This has resulted in the roof of city hall being approximately 30 percent cooler than the traditional roofs on surrounding buildings, a temperature differential that is even greater during the summer. Following the city hall’s lead, many other buildings in Chicago’s urban center have replaced traditional coverings with green roofs.

The city has also developed what is known as the Chicago Standard, a set of green building requirements for all municipal construction. Although not a mandate for commercial or residential construction, the Chicago Standard has encouraged greater green development.

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