Last month, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed HB 3646 - a bill that would allow any area within a single county to be incorporated as a renewable energy production district.

Basically, as opposed to buying power, individual counties would create a renewable energy production district that would hire a specific company to construct and operate wind farms, biomass operations or solar developments. Once up and running, the district could supply its own power, and sell excess to the utilities. It's certainly a creative way to spend stimulus money for renewable energy development, while ultimately generating revenue for local companies, land owners, and the local government. It could also serve as a hedge against future increases in electricity prices.

Now HB 3646 was held up in the Senate's Energy Committee last Thursday. Some utility companies are not pleased with the plan, and there are also those who believe that the bill was crafted too broadly and might have statewide impact that was never intended. But most believe an acceptable compromise will be reached this summer. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out. And if proven successful, it is likely that similar measures could be adopted in other parts of the country.

Jeff