For the third year in a row, Illinois has received the second best ranking among all states for its leadership in moving toward a modernized electric grid, according to Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) chairman Brien J. Sheahan. Gridwise Alliance in collaboration with Clean Edge Incorporated recently released the results of its 2018 Grid Modernization Index (GMI) Summary Report.
“Illinois continues to lead the Nation as we transform and modernize our electric grid. A willingness to embrace new cost-effective technologies and forward thinking public policies such as the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) are reshaping our energy landscape,” said Sheahan.
“I am proud of the pivotal role the ICC is taking in the strategic planning and implementation of policies and regulatory proceedings that are modernizing our grid while engaging and empowering customers to save energy and money.”
Illinois received a score of 73.0. California received the top rating with a score of 81.5, and Texas was third with a score of 64.6.
In the report, Illinois receives high marks for the adoption of public policies that encouraged investment by large regulated utilities to install millions of smart meters and for how well the utilities involve customers in smart grid programs. Illinois is recognized for its efforts to expand renewable energy resources like wind and solar, and aggressively planning for the utility of the future through the NextGrid study to examine the use of new technologies to improve the state’s electric grid while minimizing energy costs to consumers.
Gridwise based the rankings on three factors:
• State support, which includes plans and policies that support grid modernization
• Customer engagement, which ranks states on their rate structure, customer outreach and data collection practices.
• Grid operations, which benchmarks the deployment of grid modernization technologies such as smart meters, sensors, controls and analytics.
The Grid Modernization Index Report is available for download at gridwise.org.
—Illinois.gov