March 9, 2012
CHICAGO — March 6, 2012. The Illinois Commerce Commission’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Initiative Report, issued today found that Illinois’ electric grid is capable of handling the additional demand that could be created from the increased deployment of public and private charging facilities for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The report also found that current electricity rates options create the correct incentives for PEV owners to charge their vehicles during lower priced off-peak times. Overall the existing regulatory structure of the electric industry in Illinois is well suited to incorporate the expanded deployment of plug-in electric vehicles throughout Illinois.
The Initiative is co-chaired by ICC Chairman Doug Scott and Commissioner Erin O’Connell-Diaz.
“We are very pleased to see that the PEV Initiative has reaffirmed that many of our current policies support the expanded deployment of electric vehicles in Illinois,” Commissioner O’Connell-Diaz said. “Some issues remain but they are narrowly focused or long term in nature, and the Commission will continue to work with the Electric Vehicle Advisory Council to resolve them.”
To read the press release, click here.
To read the full report, click here.
In a smart move other states should emulate, Illinois is using its upcoming smart meter rollout to promote itself as “a hub for the R&D, manufacturing, development and financing of smart grid and energy projects,” said Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, Director of the Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at the Illinois Institute of Technology. “Illinois will now have the most comprehensive smart grid deployment in the U.S., and we can use our existing intellectual and human capital to ensure we serve as a model for the rest of the world.”
March 8, 2012
Study finds that nearly 200 companies in Illinois and 100 other entities stand to benefit from state’s upcoming smart grid deployment
CHICAGO – March 7, 2012. The Illinois Smart Grid Regional Innovation Cluster today released the “Illinois Smart Grid Market Inventory,” a comprehensive analysis of the growing smart grid technology innovation economic cluster in Illinois, and outlined a framework for using ComEd and Ameren’s upcoming smart grid deployments for new economic development. The report found that there are now 190 smart grid- and energy-related companies in Illinois that could potentially benefit from the upcoming implementation of a smart grid in Illinois, with an additional 95 research and development enterprises and organizations likely to be involved in smart grid areas as well.
Click here to read the full release.
Click here to read the “Illinois Smart Grid Market Inventory.”
