News Local/State

General Assembly Overrides ‘Smart Grid’ Veto

By The Associated Press
 

The Illinois General Assembly has overridden Gov. Pat Quinn's veto of legislation that addresses so-called Smart Grid technology.

The Illinois House voted 71-41 Wednesday to again approve the legislation. The Senate approved it for a second time on Tuesday.

Quinn vetoed it May 6, saying the proposal weakened oversight and forced automatic rate hikes. However the legislation becomes law immediately with this week's legislative action.

“Today’s unfortunate vote forces electric utility rate hikes on families and businesses all across Illinois," Gov. Quinn said, in a statement.  “I am disappointed that the General Assembly did not protect consumers from overreaching by utility monopolies like ComEd and Ameren. This is bad for families, businesses and our economy."

Ameren and ComEd pushed the bill to clarify 2011 legislation allowing utilities to raise rates to fund a high-tech system. But the Illinois Commerce Commission and the utilties disagreed over implementation.

ComEd filed an appeal over technical matters and faces a lawsuit over installation delays.

Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie says the proposal clears some of the problems.