Environmental groups in Illinois are commending Gov. JB Pritzker for vetoing bills this month that would have expanded nuclear power, given a utility first dibs on new transmission line projects and advanced a controversial highway expansion project. This comes after little luck passing environmental bills in this year’s legislative session, which wrapped up in May. 

“The three vetoes of the bills we most oppose were the most he could do to be a leader on climate,” said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. “These vetoes are solidifying that he is somebody who’s going to choose climate action, every time.”

Last week, the governor issued an “amendatory veto” (returning legislation with specific recommendations for changes) to a bill that would have given Ameren, an electric utility company that serves much of central and southern Illinois, the “right of first refusal” for the construction of new transmission lines, boxing out competition for projects. If passed, the state would have joined at least 12 other states codifying similar rights.

Prtizker’s office said that the right of first refusal would give utility providers a monopoly over new transmission lines. “Without competition, Ameren ratepayers will pay for these transmission projects at a much higher cost, putting corporate profits over consumers,” the office said in a public statement last week.

Sierra Club Illinois director Jack Darin says the state should be expediting the rollout of new transmission lines to reach clean energy goals. “These projects will create good jobs, and Illinois should prioritize living wages for local workers, not corporate profits funded by ratepayers,” he said in a public statement praising the veto.

Earlier this month, Pritzker vetoed two other bills. One would have allowed for the construction of nuclear power plants. The state has had a moratorium on new nuclear power plants since the 1980s. Months earlier, he said he was open to lifting the moratorium, saying it would allow for the development of modular reactors, smaller nuclear reactors that the U.S. Department of Energy deemed more affordable, and easier and safer to deploy and operate, than traditionally larger ones.

However, Pritzker’s office said in a public statement on Aug. 11 that the bill lacked sufficient health and safety protections for people who would live and work near the reactors. He also said the bill defined advanced reactors too broadly, opening the door “to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts.”

Supporters of nuclear power expansion in the state have argued that lifting the moratorium would help the state meet its zero-carbon emissions goals and that nuclear power can be a safe and reliable energy source.

The growth of nuclear power has remained stagnant for decades, largely due to hurdles including high upfront costs and competition from other energy sources. The industry has also faced criticism due to environmental and safety concerns. Despite Illinois’ moratorium, the state is still the top nuclear energy producer in the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Environmental advocacy organizations opposed the bill, saying that safety concerns remain around the disposal of stockpiles of hazardous waste from nuclear power plants and that the nuclear facilities merit stronger regulatory guardrails. 

Walling, of the Illinois Environmental Council, said the bill needs a review of current rules and regulations, including local siting and permitting rules to protect people and the environment surrounding the facilities. “If we’re going to lift this moratorium, we have to really do the difficult work of looking at appropriate regulations that give power to communities, especially [environmental justice] communities where this is likely to be located.”

The proposed lift of the moratorium is part of a larger bipartisan appeal to make the nuclear power industry a key participant in achieving national clean energy goals, but investors still remain hesitant, Inside Climate News reported in April.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said she has already filed paperwork to override the veto, according to Capitol News Illinois. 

On Aug. 11, Pritzker also issued an amendatory veto recommending specific changes on a part of a bill that would allow private industry to enter agreements with local governments for state projects. This provision was added to the bill at the tail end of the Illinois legislative session and rushed through both chambers. 

Environmental justice groups and environmental organizations hastened to stop the last-minute amendment, fearing that the proposed legislation would promote private funding of road projects like the expansion of part of Interstate 55 and lessen oversight and transparency of road expansion projects. The proposed expansion of I-55, also known as the Stevenson Expressway, would add more lanes to a part of the highway located on the Southwest Side of Chicago, a move that opponents of the bill argue would only worsen air pollution and health risks for adjacent communities already exposed to high levels of air pollution, Inside Climate News and the Chicago Sun-Times reported in May.

The governor said in the Aug. 11 statement that the provision creates a pathway for private industry to enter agreements that “skirts transparency and anti-corruption requirements” and “puts the state at greater risk of project failure by decreasing competition and reducing the opportunity for public input.”