NEW YORK CITY – As Illinois marks five years this month since the passage of the landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), Governor JB Pritzker this week joined national and global leaders in New York City to highlight the state’s progress toward a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy future.
Throughout his time at Climate Week, the Governor participated in meetings and events focused on advancing climate action and growing a clean energy economy. At a time when the Trump Administration has pulled back on climate regulation and clean energy investments, the Governor highlighted how Illinois is continuing to pursue a bold climate agenda, including expanding clean energy, creating economic opportunity, and protecting consumers as energy demand continues to grow.
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“Five years ago, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act set the standard for building a clean energy future that creates jobs, strengthens communities, and puts consumers first,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “While the Trump Administration is hindering the national clean energy movement, Illinois continues to pursue an aggressive carbon-free energy plan. I am proud to join leaders from across the country and world to showcase Illinois’ continued progress – from our growth in solar and wind to our nation-leading nuclear fleet. We are demonstrating what is possible when states invest in innovative solutions to some of the biggest climate challenges. Illinois is leading the way, and we are only getting started.”
Building the Clean Energy Economy in Illinois
In 2021, Governor Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act into law, putting Illinois on the path to 100% carbon-free power by 2050. Since then, Illinois has set the national standard in clean energy equity, building a renewable energy economy by creating jobs, training a highly skilled workforce to fill them, and putting money back in the pockets of working families.
In the five years since CEJA was enacted, Illinois has passed significant milestones, including:
- Supporting substantial growth in renewable energy projects: Illinois has brought more than 2.4 gigawatts of CEJA-supported renewable energy online with operational wind, solar, and brownfield solar projects. New projects currently under development will add enough energy to the grid to power 7.5 million homes.
- Expanding solar incentives to improve statewide participation: The Illinois Shines program now includes project categories for public schools, community solar, and equity eligible contractors, supporting over 90,000 on-site and community solar projects across the state. The Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA) program continues to grow, bringing solar access, education, and job training to income-eligible households, nonprofits, and public facilities serving low-income communities.
- Making Illinois the national leader in nuclear: Illinois leads the nation in nuclear energy production. Under CEJA, Illinois developed a new way to support the state’s nuclear power plants, saving two plants from retirement and stabilizing two more through the Carbon Mitigation Credit (CMC) program. Illinois was able to preserve more than 6000 MW of clean power, and today those plants are set to add more than 300 MW of new clean power through uprates.
- Combatting rising electricity costs: The State has put money back into consumer’s pockets with a more accountable rate design, ending guaranteed utility profits through fixed formula and requiring utilities to offer discounted gas and electric rates for low-income customers – up to 80% off their bills. Additionally, thanks to the consumer protection-focused structure of the CMC program, our ratepayers have received over $2.7 billion.
- Building economic opportunity for all: The State launched 14 workforce hubs across the state to improve equitable job access and established new equity requirements and contracting opportunities, registering more than 4,000 equity-eligible workers.
- Improving state building efficiency: Illinois developed the Stretch Energy Code to ensure new state buildings and buildings in participating cities meet a higher standard of energy efficiency, reducing emissions and saving money on energy bills.
- Expanding EV charging: Illinois has supported more than 2,000 public EV fast-charging ports through state funding from CEJA.
Building on CEJA Through CRGA
In addition to marking the five-year anniversary of CEJA, Governor Pritzker also highlighted how Illinois is expanding on that work through the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA).
Signed earlier this year, CRGA expands energy generation and storage, strengthens energy efficiency programs, and ensures the state can meet future energy demands. The law establishes a target of 3 GW of battery storage by 2030 and provides new tools to reduce electricity use during periods of peak demand when energy is most expensive. Together these provisions are expected to save Illinois consumers $13 billion over the next two decades.
CEJA is an investment in Illinois’ workforce, our communities, and our future – and the state is already seeing returns. As Climate Week NYC comes to a close, Governor Pritzker remains committed to helping Illinois build a more reliable, affordable, and sustainable future.
Together, CEJA and CRGA demonstrate how Illinois is creating jobs, strengthening reliability, protecting consumers, and building a more competitive clean energy economy.
