There are clean energy solutions to Illinois’ anticipated energy supply crunch

A recent Chicago Tribune editorial highlighted real problems facing Illinois’ electrical grid in the coming years, due to a potential gap between energy supply and demand during peak hours and inclement weather. 

As an op-ed published in response to the editorial notes, one of the reasons renewable energy isn’t coming onto the grid fast enough is because of barriers to approval. There are significant utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects ready to pick up a lot of the slack, but they’re stuck awaiting approval from the regional transmission grid operator for northern Illinois, PJM, which has a five year backlog of solar projects. 

But more pressing than how we got here is where we go next. The editorial proposes relaxing environmental regulations to keep methane gas plants open longer. But there are clean energy solutions to deal with energy supply issues that do not require extending our reliance on fossil fuels that exacerbate climate change, make extreme weather events more frequent, and harm our health. 

Battery storage supports renewable sources’ ability to meet peak demand.

Battery storage technologies assure reliable access to electricity while supporting the transition to 100 percent renewable energy. Energy storage can capture renewable energy produced in excess of the grid’s immediate needs for later use, helping to keep the lights on during extreme weather and times of grid stress.

Across the country, battery storage is growing rapidly, as the costs of the technology fall. The U.S. had 8.9 gigawatts of battery energy storage at the end of 2022, 85 percent more than at the end of 2021. 

Expanding investment in battery storage capacity will be one critical way to ensure we have enough energy to meet demand, without undermining progress on clean energy. 

The best remedy to an energy supply problem is to lower demand. Overbuilding power-hungry data centers is the last thing we need. 

One of the reasons energy supply could become an issue in coming years is a significant projected increase in energy demand, as proposals for new data centers proliferate across the state. Just Tuesday, data center corporation CyrusOne broke ground on a new center in Aurora, alongside Governor Pritzker.

Data centers are driving unprecedented surges in energy demand across the U.S., as AI development has necessitated a massive data center build-out. In Illinois, ComEd estimates that the 25 data centers under review in their territory would require 5 gigawatts of electricity to power, equivalent to the output of five nuclear plants. At the same time, a June newsletter from Goldman Sachs anticipates that we could be in an AI bubble, building out massive data center capacity to feed the growth of AI companies with unsustainable business models. 

If new data centers with unclear long-term necessity and massive energy needs are going to create a crisis for our energy grid, we need to start a conversation about slowing data center construction, not extending the lifespans of climate polluting gas plants to solve an avoidable problem.