In the pre-Revolutionary years, colonists held annual celebrations of the king’s birthday, which traditionally included the ringing of bells, bonfires, processions and speechmaking. By contrast, during the summer of 1776 some colonists celebrated the birth of independence by holding mock funerals for King George III as a way of symbolizing the end of the monarchy’s hold on America and the triumph of liberty.
4th of July celebrations including fireworks, parades, festivals and backyard barbeques have been the tradition ever since!
Read about our interesting history of Independence Day here:
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th
Illinois Energy Decisions Affecting Other States
And They’re Not Happy About It!
How Do You Like Your Bad Energy Policies Now, Democrats?
At the time of this newsletter, Springfield sits in the dark without electricity. No doubt Governor Pritzker has a gas-powered generator keeping his mansion running (if he’s in Illinois at all). But after running around the world bragging about his ‘green new deal’ for Illinois, he might have to eat crow. Not only is his brainchild bad for Illinois, but neighboring states also aren’t happy with it either.
Steve Daines writing in Crain’s Chicago Business said Ohio legislators are threatening to sue over Pritzker’s prized Green Energy legislation from 2021. Daines writes:
“A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers is blaming Illinois’ landmark 2021 clean-energy law for jeopardizing reliability in their state and potentially raising costs for their ratepayers. And they’re threatening to take legal action against Illinois in response.”
Northeast Illinois is part of a larger power region, the PJM market, and when coal and natural gas plants are forced by legislation to shut down without reliable power to replace them, then the PJM region must shift power from other states. As Daines explained, Illinois policies are forcing Ohio ratepayers to build more transmission lines to deliver power from Ohio and elsewhere to Illinois.
And guess what, Ohio legislators, who are smarter than ours, are blowing the whistle on the nonsense.
Daines goes on to say:
The Ohio legislators cited PJM’s estimate that about $2 billion in new high-voltage lines would be needed to transport power between states to make up for the plants that are closing or are required to close.
PJM’s looming reliability challenges are clearly exacerbated by provisions in the Illinois CEJA that mandate the closure of certain facilities in that state and, to address these closures, PJM has identified upgrades to the transmission system that are located mostly in Ohio and will cost upwards of $2 billion,” their letter stated. “We expect that Ohio ratepayers will not be burdened with costs that are caused by the policy choices of other states.”
Here’s the rub. We told the Democrats this would happen. We said it TWO YEARS AGO. And so did the ICC, the IMA, and many other power suppliers and users.
Then, at the end of session just a month ago, MISO told legislators they needed special legislation allowing them to essentially build transmission lines wherever they needed to ensure an adequate supply of power in Illinois, too. That power and those lines are coming from southern states and their fossil fuel plants.
It’s quite a debacle. All for the Democrat fantasies that wind and solar can replace over 75 percent of our power in just a few years. No Way.
Once again, it may take pressure from other states to wake up Illinoisans to the unworkable policies of Pritzker and his progressive, nonsensical friends.
Other states across the country are also experiencing the disastrous results of similar ill-conceived policies.
A recent major hail storm in western Nebraska took an entire solar farm out of commission, forcing the local community to turn back to traditional power sources. The so-called Community Solar Project is not currently operating and will remain offline until costly repairs are completed.
Read More at This Link
Illinois taxes increase on basic necessities Saturday | Illinois | thecentersquare.com
Illinois’ Unfunded Pension Liabilities Continue to Strain State, Local Governments
June 28, 2023
“S&P Global Ratings published their “Pension Spotlight: Illinois” report Monday. In announcing the report, the agency said it “expects costs will keep rising because contributions are significantly short of meaningful funding progress, plans are poorly funded, and the Illinois Pension Code allows plans to use assumptions and methodologies that defer costs.””
Cyber Attack On State Of Illinois
The state of Illinois will offer credit monitoring and a call center for hundreds of thousands of people whose private data was compromised in a cyberattack by a global ransomware group in May.
The ransomware gang, called CL0P, is thought to have exploited a vulnerability in the state’s MOVEit Transfer file-sharing software.
The state estimates that data for 390,000 people was affected.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/technology/illinois-discloses-details-cl0ps-moveit-cyberattack
4th Of July Fireworks Celebrations In Illinois!
Communities across the state are celebrating Independence Day with fireworks, parades, live music, carnivals, food vendors and more:
https://www.enjoyillinois.com/travel-illinois/4th-of-july-fireworks-celebrations-in-illinois/
Here is a map of the new 101st House District. Use this link for a clearer picture and to enter your address to see if you live in the district: https://repcmiller.com/district/
As your state representative, my office is available to assist you with any issues you may have when interacting with a state agency.
Please call our office at (217) 508-4108 to get help or schedule an appointment to see me.
The office is located at 1113 Lincoln Ave., Charleston, and is open Monday-Friday from 9am to 4 pm.