The Illinois Commerce Commission has announced the release of a Notice of Inquiry report on Extreme Weather Preparedness. After severe weather went through the US South that resulted in massive reduced energy supply and much higher prices, the Commission has looked to see if they can prevent that from happening in Illinois.

The ICC says that customers need assurance that everything possible is being done to keep lights and heat on and that outages will be kept to a minimum. Utility service providers were asked several questions related to the preparations that they were doing to prevent issues when temps start to fall. 

Many companies interviewed admitted that Illinois has plenty of preparation and most commentators don’t think Illinois will see what Texas saw in February of this year. However, respondents recommended the ICC continue to study changes to its rules and regs that could facilitate mitigation of extreme weather impacts. They also recommended more renewable energy sources, more flexibile payment arrangements, and waiving deposit requirements and fees. The ICC is still working with multiple companies to help keep energy problems to a minimum in 2022 and beyond. 

Participants in the study include Ameren, Edison, Dynegy, the Illinois American Water Company, and many others.