Illinois § 15-15

§ 15-15.

Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plans; creation. (a) Pursuant to the procedures in Section 15-20, a local unit of government may establish Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plans and identify boundaries and areas covered by the Plans. (b) Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plans are intended to aid local governments in developing a comprehensive approach to combining different energy, climate, and jobs programs and funding resources to achieve complementary impact. An effective planning process may: (1) help communities discover ways that their local government, businesses, and residents can control their energy use and lower their bills; (2) ensure a cost-effective transition away from fossil fuels in the transportation sector; (3) expand access to workforce development and job training opportunities for disadvantaged workers in the emerging clean energy economy; (4) incentivize the creation and retention of quality Illinois jobs (when federal funds are not involved) in the emerging clean energy economy; (5) incentivize the creation and retention of quality U.S. jobs in the emerging clean energy economy; (6) promote economic development through improvements in community infrastructure, transit, and support for local business; (7) improve the health of Illinois communities, especially eligible communities, by reducing emissions, addressing existing brownfield areas, and promoting the integration of distributed energy resources; (8) enable greater customer engagement, empowerment, and options for energy services, and ultimately reduce utility bills for Illinoisans; (9) bring the benefits of grid modernization and the deployment of distributed energy resources to economically disadvantaged communities and eligible communities throughout Illinois; (10) support existing Illinois policy goals promoting energy efficiency, demand response, and investments in renewable energy resources; (11) enable communities to better respond to extreme heat and cold emergencies; (12) explore opportunities to expand and improve recreational amenities, wildlife habitat, flood mitigation, agricultural production, tourism, and similar co-benefits by deploying natural climate solutions and nature-based approaches for climate adaptation; and (13) ensure eligible persons, minorities, women, people with disabilities, and veterans meaningfully participate in the transition to a clean energy economy. (c) A Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plan may include discussion of: (1) the demographics of the community, including information on the mix of residential and commercial areas and populations, ages, languages, education, and workforce training, including an examination of the average utility bills paid within the community by class and zip code, the percentage and locations of individuals requiring energy assistance, and participation of community members in other assistance programs; (2) an examination of the community's energy use, for electricity, natural gas, transportation, and other fuels; (3) the geography of the community, including the amount of green space, brownfield sites, farmland, waterways, flood zones, heat islands, areas for potential development, location of critical infrastructure such as emergency response facilities, health care and education facilities, and public transportation routes; (4) information on economic development opportunities, commercial usage, and employment opportunities; (5) the current status of zero emission vehicles operated by or on behalf of public agencies within the community; and (6) other topics deemed applicable by the community. (d) A Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plan may address the following areas: (1) distributed energy resources, including energy efficiency, demand response, dynamic pricing, energy storage, and solar (thermal, rooftop, and community); (2) building codes, both commercial and residential; (3) alternative transportation funding; (4) transit options, including individual car ownership, ridesharing, buses, trains, bicycles, and pedestrian walkways; (5) community assets related to extreme heat and cold emergencies, such as cooling and warming centers; (6) public agency procurements of zero emission, electric vehicles; and (7) networks of natural resources and infrastructure. (e) A Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plan may conclude with proposals to: (1) increase the use of electricity as a transportation fuel at multi-unit dwellings; (2) maximize the system-wide benefits of transportation electrification; (3) direct public agencies to implement tools, such as the U.S. Employment Plan or a Local Employment Plan, to incentivize manufacturers in clean energy industries to create and retain quality jobs and invest in training, workforce development, and apprenticeship programs in connection to a major contract; (4) test innovative load management programs or rate structures associated with the use of electric vehicles by residential customers to achieve customer fuel cost savings relative to gasoline or diesel fuels and to optimize grid efficiency; (5) increase the integration of distributed energy resources in the community; (6) significantly expand the percentage of net-zero housing and net-zero buildings in the community; (7) improve utility bill affordability; (8) increase mass transit ridership; (9) decrease vehicle miles traveled; (10) reduce local emissions of greenhouse gases, NO x , SO x , particulate matter, and other air pollutants; (11) improve community assets that help residents respond to extreme heat and cold emergencies; and (12) expand opportunities for eligible persons, minorities, women, people with disabilities, and veterans to meaningfully participate in the transition to a clean energy economy. (f) A Community Energy, Climate, and Jobs Plan may be administered by one or more program administrators or the local unit of government. (Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)