Southern IL Black residents say their Black lawmakers ignore their views on energy bills
A group of Black metro-east residents concerned about the environment say their local leaders are out-of-step with voters on energy overhaul bills pending before Illinois lawmakers.
Protesters demonstrated Thursday outside the St. Louis headquarters of Ameren, one of Illinois’ biggest energy utility companies. Ameren helped write legislation sponsored by state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, and state Sen. Chris Belt, D-Cahokia Heights.
Demonstrators accused Greenwood and Belt — both recipients of money from Ameren — of working against their interests by supporting the company-backed bill, the Downstate Clean Energy Affordability Act (SB 311/HB 1734). They also worry about which bill the NAACP supports. The association has not taken a public stance but accepts Ameren donations.
“We look to our leaders in our community to kind of give us some direction because working class people don’t have time to go and do the research,” said Rev. Michael Atty, executive director of faith-based environmental group United Congregations of Metro East. “So, we hear, ‘Oh, Greenwood, Belt, NAACP is behind it so it must be good for us, but it’s really on the contrary.”
Greenwood and Belt have said they back the Downstate bill because they believe it will provide affordable clean energy and equitable job opportunities.
The lawmakers did not respond to calls or emails Friday.
Both Belt and Greenwood have accepted donations from Ameren. Ameren Illinois and its political action committee contributed roughly $14,300 to Greenwood’s campaign from 2017 to 2020, and $10,500 to Belt’s in the same time, state campaign finance data shows.
The donations make up just 2% of Greenwood’s total fundraising and less than 1% for Belt.
“It’s people like Senator Belt who sponsored this bill, it’s people like LaToya Greenwood who sponsored this bill,” said Gregory Norris, executive director of ACES 4 Youth, an Alton-based civic engagement group. “That’s right, call them out by name.”
Pastor Norma Patterson of East St. Louis told protesters it wasn’t enough to demonstrate.
“I’m calling you to action. It’s not enough to put on your clothes and hold up a sign. You better call your legislator. Call the CEO of Ameren. You better call your NAACP leader,” Patterson said.
While the East St. Louis NAACP chapter hasn’t publicly supported either bill, Atty said he’s concerned about donations the civil rights organization has accepted from Ameren. The Illinois conference typically accepts anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000 a year from the energy industry, The New York Times reported last year. The newspaper cited the conference’s president, who said the donations do not affect their activities.
East St. Louis chapter president Stanley Franklin said while his group accepts money from Ameren, it would not accept a donation in exchange for supporting a bill. Franklin was pictured on social media holding a $12,500 check from the utility.
“A lot of folks that make donations to the NAACP because they feel we’re doing some things that fall into their mission,” Franklin said.
Franklin met with United Congregations to discuss the legislation in late April, Atty said. Franklin said he and his team would review the legislation but didn’t know enough about it to take a position yet.
But Atty’s group and other environmental organizations, such as the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, want the NAACP and local lawmakers to support another plan they say will help communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and economic inequity.
They’re advocating for the Clean Energy Jobs Act (SB 1718/HB 804), or CEJA, which is pending before state lawmakers. The bill aligns closely with yet another energy overhaul proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.
Protesters called on Belt and Greenwood to support CEJA instead of the Downstate plan.
“There’s never been a connection,” Norris said. “They haven’t come to the community. Senator Belt and Representative Greenwood, they never did a survey of the community.”
What’s in the energy bills?
The protesters’ complaints centered on what they consider unfair rate hikes by Ameren and energy sector corruption, while the company and metro-east lawmakers have said their bill makes more sense for southern Illinois.
An Ameren spokesman said the Downstate bill won’t significantly raise costs for southern Illinois and is not “special interest legislation” supported by the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, an environmental group that opposes the company-backed plan. The coalition helped organize the protest in St. Louis.
“We owe it to our customers to protect their interests and call on the Clean Jobs Coalition to be transparent about their plan that would force Illinois to buy even more costly energy from out-of-state, threaten reliability and subsidize northern Illinois,” said Ameren Illinois spokesman Tucker Kennedy in an email. “Raising downstate energy bills without benefits is not fair and we will not stand for it.”
Ameren recently proposed a rate hike the company estimates would add $2.75 to the average monthly bill for infrastructure upgrades and maintenance. If approved by the state commerce commission, the increase would go into place in 2022.
CEJA would prevent Ameren from implementing rate hikes so quickly, according David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a group that advocates for energy consumers. Instead, CEJA would force utilities to set their rates for four years under what’s known as a “multi-year rate plan.”
Proponents say changing the state’s rate-setting formula would holds utilities accountable amid an ongoing corruption scandal involving Commonwealth Edison, or ComEd, the largest electric utility in Illinois. ComEd favored legislation creating the state’s existing rate increase rules. The company admitted to offering no-work jobs to associates of former House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for his support, Capitol News Illinois reported. It led to increased consumer costs.
Ameren is not involved in the ComEd investigation.
Under CEJA, an independent ethics monitor overseen by the Illinois Commerce Commission would work at each utility headquarters as an “onsite watchdog,” the Clean Jobs Coalition said in a news release.
The protesters also called for lawmakers to support CEJA’s aggressive goal of eliminating all carbon in Illinois’ power sector by 2030, including the closure of all coal plants in the state. They also like the bill’s proposal to create job training and economic development opportunities with a focus on communities where coal plants have shuttered.
But Ameren and Greenwood say CEJA wasn’t written with southern Illinois in mind and will cost too much.
Key points Ameren makes about CEJA include:
- Closing coal plants will make energy more expensive for Illinoisans because Ameren will have to import energy from other states.
A key part of the legislation creates a special energy market for the northern region but does not include downstate, making CEJA designed with the Chicago region at the forefront.
The cost of increased caps on subsidies paid to solar project developers and for subsidies for installing renewable energy infrastructure could increase costs for consumers.
CEJA would increase energy bills by $20 billion over 30 years, a price environmental groups question.
The Downstate bill, Ameren says, would develop large-scale solar facilities to replace energy lost from shuttered coal plants while still leaving room in the market for small-scale and home solar projects. Greenwood has said the legislation would ensure union labor and diverse contractors would do the construction for the large-scale facilities.
Ameren would own that new solar infrastructure, a provision protesters opposed.
“The utility does not want people to have control of their energy because it’s about profits for their shareholders,” said protester Rev. Jennifer Warren Hauser of the First United Presbyterian Church in Granite City.
But the utility says they want to invest in “the future of the grid” by owning solar infrastructure. The company estimates paying for constructional will amount to an additional 75 cents on the average monthly residential bill.
“There is only one plan that will enable the state to reach its clean energy goals in a responsible and affordable way – the Downstate Clean Energy Affordability Act,” Kennedy said.
Reporter DeAsia Paige contributed to this story.
Editor’s note: Ameren Illinois is a major local funder of the BND’s expanded coverage of underserved communities and K-12 education in southwestern Illinois. Contributions from the community and the nonprofit Report for America support two reporter positions at the BND.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREAbout Ameren Illinois funding and Report for America
Ameren Illinois is a financial supporter of the BND’s expanded coverage of underserved communities and K-12 education in southwestern Illinois.
The company recently awarded a $25,000 grant to the nonprofit Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project, to support two reporter positions at the BND. The positions are funded by RFA, readers and community institutions.
The recent grant, announced during the BND’s current fundraising campaign, is the third from the Ameren Cares program to RFA since the BND launched its coverage expansion project last year.
Here’s an example of a BND statement of independence that spells out our relationship with funders:
“Editorial independence has been a core value of the Belleville News-Democrat since its founding 163 years ago. We strive to deliver high-impact journalism in the public interest. While we value the support and partnership of our funding partners, outside funders will not have any editorial oversight, approval or influence over the content produced by reporters or other members of the BND newsroom.’’
This story was originally published May 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
