Kane County Reporter

In a March 26 Facebook post, Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-IL) shared the progress of a bill to create an offshore wind energy pilot program.

Keicher was first elected to the Illinois House in 2018, currently residing in DeKalb. A Republican, his legislative experience includes serving on the Appropriations-Higher Education and Immigration & Human Rights Committee. 

"I called for this bill to be called in the last General Assembly during lame duck but environmentalists blocked it. Instead, they rammed HB 4412 through and it was an honor to speak in support of offshore wind on Friday," Keicher wrote in his post.

On his website, Keicher shared a video of the most recent hearing on the bill. At that time, he spoke to the chamber, hoping to remind them that he called for the bill to be called in the last General Assembly, citing it as "innovative and creative."

"We have seen time and again in Norway, the UK, Ireland, and on the East Coast of the United States where offshore wind energy has not only been prolific and productive, it has remained in a place that can be easily removed without causing permanent damage to our landscape," Keicher said. "What we saw with 4412 that the prior representative who voiced concerns about siting it spoke about, as we saw with 4412, that we are jamming sighting down everybody's throat in rural Illinois, which is unfair when we should be doing -- what this bill is seeking to do -- exploring the opportunities where this has the least impact on our state and our people that reside not only in cities but in the country.

Among comments, Keicher hoped to highlight the supposed "excellence that this bill offers in giving good jobs to the Black and Brown communities on the South and West side of Chicago." This comes as he states representatives have sought time and time again to offer opportunities to these communities but struggled to meet some of those requirements in rural Illinois.

House Bill 2132 was first filed by Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr., on Feb. 3, 2023. It would create the Illinois Rust Belt to Green Belt Pilot Program Act, as well as a special fund in the state treasury. That fund would be used “by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to encourage and facilitate the employment of construction workforces located in underrepresented populations.” It would also require applicants for a new utility-scale offshore wind project to file with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity an “equity and inclusion plan" and direct the Illinois Power Agency to procure, “in addition to the amount of renewable energy credits to be procured from wind projects, the Illinois Power Agency shall procure at least 700,000 renewable energy credits, delivered annually for at least 20 years, from one new utility-scale offshore wind project.”

“During the January lame-duck session, I called for this idea to promote offshore wind turbine development and called for this type of legislation to move forward. This is an innovative solution we’ve seen be successful in other countries for wind energy development that doesn’t lead to long-term degradation of the landscape," Keicher continued on his website.

While he claims the solution the legislation passed in January under HB 4412 removed local siting authority, he believes offshore has the least impact on residents by not forcing anyone to have wind turbines in their backyard against their wishes and "offers a win-win pathway forward."

“Even better still, this program takes advantage of federal infrastructure funding that will allow us to pursue these developments and create jobs without relying on state tax dollars," Keicher added.