Severin Says New Battery Storage Energy Law Guarantees Higher Electric Bills

BENTON, IL - State Representative Dave Severin (R-Benton) serves as the House Republican ranking member and spokesman on the House Energy & Environment Committee. During the October 2025 Veto Session, Severin was a leading and vocal opponent of SB 25, titled the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act.

Severin says the legislation, which passed deep into the morning on the final day of the Veto Session, will cost ratepayers upwards of $7 billion for the purpose of installing battery energy storage facilities throughout the state in the next several years.

SB 25 was signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker on Thursday. Rep. Severin issued the following statement in response.

"As the House ranking member on the House Energy & Environment Committee, I sounded the alarm against this legislation, knowing that it does nothing to address coming energy shortages and ensure that residents and businesses will be paying higher electric bills because of it," Severin said.

"I have been a staunch advocate for the repeal of the dangerous and costly Green New Giveaway, Green New Scam legislation that is harming our electric grid and walloping families and businesses with record-high energy prices. The pie-in-the-sky clean energy dreams of Illinois Democrats have been a nightmare for anyone who turns on a light switch or tries to heat or cool their home."

SB 25 was signed by Governor Pritzker despite multiple studies released last month that point to a credible risk of coming energy shortages in Illinois within the next five years. Severin says it is not too late to reverse course and work to save our energy grid and ensure that electricity customers have access to reliable and affordable energy.

"We have the natural resources under our feet to be a net energy exporter, yet time and again, the majority Democrats in Illinois double down on energy policies that cost us good-paying jobs, threaten the reliability of our energy grid, and ensure that people and businesses will pay skyrocketing prices well into the future. It's wrong, and it needs to end," Severin said.

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