Sorensen Announces Funding to Deliver Affordable Clean Energy to Northern Illinois Communities
$50 Million for Rockford Follows Sorensen’s Advocacy on The Project
ROCKFORD, IL – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are announcing $50 million in funding awarded to ComEd and its local Rockford partners to deliver affordable, clean energy to Illinois families. This announcement comes after Sorensen’s advocacy on the initiative.
“I’m pleased to join local, regional, and federal partners in announcing these critical investments that will build a more sustainable Central and Northwestern Illinois for the next generation and lower energy prices at a time when families are struggling,” said Sorensen. “This initiative will create good-paying jobs, deliver cleaner air to our communities, and strengthen the resiliency of Rockford’s energy supply, keeping working families safer.”
“ComEd and the City of Rockford are excited to collaborate on another impactful project to enable electrification and decarbonization,” said Thomas P. McNamara, Mayor of Rockford. “In addition to improving power quality needs in our area and supporting the expansion and development of new businesses within the city, we look forward to continued collaboration with ComEd to maximize the project’s benefits with expanded community education and local workforce development for our residents.”
The funds will enable ComEd and its local partners to deploy the next generation of grid technologies that support the growth of solar and electric vehicles (EVs), while piloting new local workforce training initiatives to support job creation connected to the clean energy transition.
The funds are being awarded as part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which seeks to enhance grid flexibility and improve the resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change.
Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the DOE, the GRIP program leverages federal and private investments to ensure that communities across the nation have a reliable grid that's prepared for extreme weather while also delivering affordable, clean energy and creating robust local opportunities for economic investment and jobs.
Congressman Eric Sorensen is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to represent Illinois at the federal level and is a member of the New Democrat Coalition. He serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to serving in Congress, Sorensen was a local meteorologist in Rockford and the Quad Cities for nearly 20 years. His district includes Illinois’ Quad Cities, Rockford, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal.
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