This coverage is made possible through the following partnerships: grist and WBEZa public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area.
It takes approximately 700,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year to power Chicago’s more than 400 city halls. As of January 1, all facilities are powered by renewable energy, including 98 fire stations, two international airports, and two of the largest water treatment facilities on the planet, largely due to Illinois’ newest and This is thanks to the largest solar power generation facility.
The city said the move is expected to reduce the country’s third-largest city’s carbon footprint by about 290,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to taking 62,000 cars off the road. It is said to be equivalent to local decarbonization Efforts like Chicago’s are becoming more important as President-elect Donald Trump promises to reduce federal aid to fight climate change. As the outgoing Biden administration doubles down on international commitments to achieve net-zero U.S. emissions by 2050, cities, states and private businesses across the country will have to pick up the slack.
Chicago is one of several U.S. cities using bulk purchasing power to promote new carbon-free energy development.
“This is a plan that will force the city to take action on climate change and leverage our purchasing power to create new opportunities for Chicagoans and our state,” said Angela Tovar, Chicago’s chief sustainability officer. ” he said. “There are opportunities everywhere.”
Chicago’s switch to renewable energy took nearly a decade. The goal of sourcing the city’s electricity from purely carbon-free sources was first established in 2017 by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. His successor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, signed a deal with electricity provider Constellation to buy the city’s energy in 2022. Developers of Swift Current Energy will start in 2025.
Swift Current has begun construction on a 3,800-acre, 593-megawatt solar farm in central Illinois as part of the same five-year, $422 million contract. Spanning two counties in central Illinois, double black diamond solar project It is now the largest solar power facility east of the Mississippi River. It will produce enough electricity to power more than 100,000 homes, said Caroline Mann, Swift Current’s vice president of power generation.
Only the city of Chicago has agreed to purchase about half of the facility’s total output, which will cover about 70 percent of the city’s buildings’ electricity needs. City officials plan to cover the remaining 30% by purchasing renewable energy credits.
“This is actually a feature, not a bug in our plan,” said Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer Jared Polisicchio. He also added that the city’s demand for 100% renewable energy will spur further local clean energy development, albeit on a much smaller scale, and create new sources of electricity that the city can purchase directly instead of credits. He added that he expected that. “Our goal over the next few years is to get to the point where we don’t buy renewable energy credits.”
According to sources, more than 700 other U.S. cities and towns have entered into similar purchase agreements since 2015. 2022 survey From the World Resources Institute. just one city, houstonMatthew Popkin, U.S. cities and regions program manager at the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, which conducts research focused on decarbonization, said the city has larger renewable energy contracts than Chicago. . But he added that no other contract has added as much new renewable power to the grid as Chicago.
“Part of Chicago’s goal was what’s called ‘additionality,’ bringing new resources into the market and into the grid here,” Popkin said.
Chicago also secured commitments of $400,000 annually from Constellation and Swift Current for clean energy employee training. women in the chicago industrya nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in unions in the construction and manufacturing industries.
Economic benefits extend beyond the city limits. According to Swift Current, approx. 100 million dollars During the project’s operational life, new tax revenue is expected to flow into Sangamon and Morgan counties, where the Double Black Diamond solar site is located.
“Cities and other local governments simply don’t value their ability to not only support their residents but also create markets,” Popkin said. “Chicago is leading by example on how cities can lead by example, implement ambitious goals amidst evolving state and federal policy changes, and leverage their purchasing power to support a more just renewable energy future.” It is directly proven.”
Alex Dane, senior manager of clean energy innovation and partnerships in the U.S. Energy Program at the World Resources Institute, said many cities have two renewable energy goals: one for municipal operations; The other goal is for the entire community, he said. Although the latter is “a little harder to achieve and the timeline is a little further out,” Dane said that once cities decarbonize assets that they directly manage, the goals for communities don’t seem as lofty. .
In fact, Chicago’s new milestone is the first step in a broader goal to have all of the city’s buildings powered by renewable energy by 2035. Chicago would then become the largest city in the country to do so. sierra club.
Dehn said it will become increasingly important for cities, towns and states to drive their own efforts to reduce emissions, build greener economies and meet local climate goals. Ta. He said moves like Chicago prove they are capable, no matter what happens at the federal level.
“It is imperative that states, cities and counties know that their actions are permanent measures, even under the next administration. [it] We need to do that,” Dane said. “This juice is still worth squeezing.”
