About Offshore Wind
The Biden administration has announced huge new investments in building offshore wind around the country.
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Why? Because not only does offshore wind create clean, renewable energy that helps us reach our climate goals, but it also creates thousands of high-skilled, good paying union jobs and thousands of additional jobs up and down the supply chain.
My administration set bold targets to start with: 30 gigawatts by 2030. That’s 10 million homes. Ten million homes with offshore wind. Ports turned back into economic engines, being in a position where foundries and factories are up and running — again, creating jobs."
President Joe Biden
Economic Impact of Offshore Wind
In order for Illinois to take advantage of investments from the federal government, we have to act now, before other states on the Great Lakes beat us to it. Not only will we bring clean jobs to Illinois, we will be creating home-grown clean energy that will help us reach our own renewable energy goals put forth by the Clean Energy Jobs Act, the most comprehensive environmental legislation in the country.
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Potential Economic Impact of the First Offshore Wind Project Enabled by the Rust Belt to Green Belt Legislation
2,700
JOBS
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in Black & Brown communities
$497
MILLION
economic activity in Illinois ($359.6M during construction & $137.5M during operations)
$414
MILLION
in payroll ($306M during construction & $107.5M during operations
MILLIONS
in community benefits payments
New Federal Investments in Offshore Wind
In order for Illinois to take advantage of investments from the federal government, we have to act now, before other states on the Great Lakes beat us to it. Not only will we bring clean jobs to Illinois, we will be creating home-grown clean energy that will help us reach our own renewable energy goals put forth by the Clean Energy Jobs Act, the most comprehensive environmental legislation in the country.
In order to allow offshore wind to be built in Illinois, the state legislature in Springfield needs to pass legislation that:
Allows the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to seek federal funding to build an offshore wind port.
01.
02.
Directs the Illinois Power Agency to procure power from an offshore wind pilot project.
This is exactly what the Rust Belt to Green Belt legislation does: it opens the door to offshore wind while ensuring that Illinois explores offshore wind first through a single pilot project with a limited number of wind turbines.
This pilot project will help us learn what works for communities and what doesn’t, while still investing in the port infrastructure we need to both support offshore wind and create clean energy jobs.
Addressing the Legacy of Manufacturing & Environmental Racism on Chicago’s Southeast Side
The Rust Belt to Green Belt legislation does not mandate a specific location for an offshore wind port to be built.
However, the legislation’s Chief Co-Sponsors, State Senator Robert Peters and Representative Marcus Evans are championing this legislation in order to bring clean energy jobs to the Black and Brown communities on Chicago’s Southeast side that have suffered disinvestment following the closure of the steel plants, and environmental racism, due to dirty manufacturing that has polluted their neighborhoods and caused record levels of asthma and other respiratory disease.
Ensuring Jobs Go to Black & Brown Workers
The Rust Belt to Green Belt Legislation mandates that offshore wind developers apply through a special “Request for Proposal” or “RFP” to be granted the exclusive rights to build an offshore wind pilot project and sell the energy to the Illinois Power Agency.
In order to win the RFP, wind developers will need to submit a rigorous proposal that will be scored in three categories: price, overall viability of the applicant, and equity & inclusion. The developer’s equity plan, which must detail how they will create opportunities and invest in underrepresented communities, is given the most weight when scoring each proposal.
This means that in order to build offshore wind in Illinois, developers MUST employ people from underrepresented communities and in order to win the RFP, developers are incentivized to beat their competitors by committing to the best possible equity plans.
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Winning applicant must achieve at least 75 points.
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PRICE
33 points
OVERALL VIABILITY OF APPLICANT
33 points
EQUITY & INCLUSION PLAN TO CREATE OPPPORTUNITIES & INVESTMENT IN UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES
34 points
Equity & Inclusion Plan Scoring
Equity Inclusion Plan Scoring means a score of up to 34 points, determined by the Department's review of an applicant's ability to demonstrate that it has a comprehensive and detailed equity and inclusion plan crafted to create opportunities for underrepresented populations and equity investment eligible communities
Underrepresented populations
Underrepresented populations means populations identified by the Department that historically have had barriers to entry or advancement in the workforce and reside within a disproportionately impacted area that is within 3 miles of the primary staging location of a new utility-scale offshore wind project. Underrepresented populations includes, but is not limited to minorities, women, and veterans.
Timeline
Before offshore wind can be built in Illinois, the state legislature must pass the Rust Belt to Green Belt Act.
OFFSHORE WIND
SUSTAINABLE JOBS
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Port
25
250
Project Pilot
50-100
500-1000
50-100
FEASIBILITY
DEVELOPMENT
ENGINEERING
CONSTRUCTION
OPERATION
Illinois needs to seize the opportunity to build long-lasting green energy infrastructure that will create thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs in the same communities that have endured decades of environmental racism."
State Senator Robert Peters
Frequently Asked Questions
In The News
The Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune
WBEZ Chicago
Block Club Chicago
Block Club Chicago
Supporters
Chief Co-Sponsor State Senator Robert Peters
Chief Co-Sponsor State Representative Marcus Evans
State Senator Bill Cunningham
State Senator Melinda Bush
State Senator Michael E. Hastings
State Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr.
State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins
State Representative Kathleen Willis
State Representative Robyn Gabel
State Representative Jay Hoffman
State Representative Will Guzzardi
State Representative Natalie A. Manley
State Representative Dave Vella
State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz
State Representative Bob Morgan
State Representative Edgar Gonzalez, Jr.
State Representative Margaret Croke
Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council
Chicago Federation of Labor
Chicago Laborers District Council
Climate Jobs Illinois
IBEW Local 134
Illinois AFL-CIO
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150
Iron Workers Chicago & Vicinity District Council
Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council
Teamsters Joint Council 25
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Faith in Place
Sierra Club
Chicago Urban League
Business Network for Offshore Wind
Related Midwest
Salesforce
Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition
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