By Hannah Meisel
Capitol News Illinois
hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com
Consumer natural gas bills could triple over the next 10 years without state intervention, according to a report from the Building Decarbonization Coalition and Groundwork Data.
The report attributes much of the potential increase to the fact that most utility infrastructure spending is going toward technology that’s likely to be phased out anyway. The report’s authors argue the need for a “managed” transition away from natural gas as more builders and homeowners choose to use electricity for building heat, as opposed to traditional gas-powered options.
“An ‘unmanaged’ transition will be far more expensive and far more inequitable, and it’s proven in large part by how much it costs to maintain the gas system,” Dorie Seavey, the report’s author, said last week.
The Building Decarbonization Coalition is backed by utilities, such as California’s Pacific Gas and Electric, as well as companies such as Google, Salesforce and LG, according to the coalition’s website. The head of the Illinois Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group, applauded the report last week.
“The crippling cost of heating bills has already caused a financial emergency for many Illinois families, and this new study shows that current conditions represent only a fraction of the fiasco to come if spending by gas utilities is not held in check,” CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said in a statement.
The report’s authors presented their findings to regulators, advocates and industry representatives last week as part of the State’s ongoing “Future of Gas” proceeding, aimed at identifying how best to regulate the fossil-fuel reliant industry as the state continues to transition to clean energy.
The city of Chicago is considering mandating electric heat in some new construction and Illinois lawmakers proposed incentivizing electrification earlier this month.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.