Springfield, IL, ILLINOIS, June 10 - On Thursday, citing the potential benefits to customers, the Illinois Commerce Commission opened a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to seek information from the state's regulated electric, natural gas, water, and sewer utilities about their plans to apply for federal grants, loans, assistance and programs under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The IIJA provides for approximately $550 billion in federal funding for infrastructure improvements including public utility infrastructure such as electric generation, clean energy transmission and deployment, electric vehicle infrastructure, grid reliability, energy efficiency, and access to clean water and cybersecurity.

"The Commission would like to see Illinois' large public utilities be aggressive in applying for these federal dollars designed to help states adopt a clean and modernized grid while offsetting the cost to ratepayers," said Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Carrie Zalewski. "We initiated this NOI to find out what each of the utilities might be eligible to apply for and how the State of Illinois can help them to secure these funds."

"The ICC has an important role in the process of implementing the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which sets the goal of zero emissions by 2045. These grant dollars would go a long ways toward helping us achieve these goals at the least possible costs to ratepayers," said Commissioner Ann McCabe.

While the questions are primarily directed to the public utilities, all interested parties are encouraged to respond to any question to which they can provide meaningful or helpful input for the Commission. Interested participants can find the questions within the docket 22-NOI-01. The submission of initial comments is scheduled for June 30, 2022, with a deadline for submission of reply comments to follow on July 14, 2022.

The Commission anticipates that additional rounds of comments might be beneficial and has granted the NOI manager, Joy Nicdao-Cuyugan, the authority to schedule further rounds or alter the schedule, if necessary, with adequate public notice. She may be reached at Joy.Nicdao-Cuyugan2@Illinois.gov.