Path to 100 Act Economic Impact Report Published by Strategic Economic Research, LLC
A new piece of legislation in Illinois will result in 53,298 construction jobs and over $8 billion in increased economic output by 2033, according to an economic impact report published by Strategic Economic Research, LLC and Power Up Illinois.
The Path to 100 Act will expand the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) from the current requirement of 25% renewable energy by 2025 to to 40% by 2030, as well as ensuring that sufficient funding exists to fully implement the Illinois RPS.
According to the analysis performed by Strategic Economic Research, LLC, by 2033, Path to 100 will result in 53,298 jobs created or supported during construction periods, and 3,215 jobs created or supported annually during operations. $8.27 billion will be generated in increased economic output during construction, and $571 million per year will be generated in increased economic output during operations.
Dr. David G. Loomis, President of Strategic Economic Research, LLC, and Professor of Economics at Illinois State University, has over 10 years of experience in the renewable energy field and has performed economic analyses at the county, region, state and national levels for utility-scale wind and solar generation. This report for the Path to 100 Act took many months of data collection, including retrieving property tax information to create a database of 223,852 tax records. It also included creating over 60 economic impact models and combining the impact of projected utility-scale wind and solar, as well as community, commercial, residential, and brownfield solar.
Based on the analysis of historical property tax records in every county that has an existing utility-scale wind or solar project, the report found that they paid $306 million in property taxes total statewide since 2003, which included over $193.7 million to school districts, $38.9 million to county governments, $19.1 million to community colleges, and $15.9 million to fire districts.
To see a full video of Dr. David Loomis presenting the report to the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, click here.
Strategic Economic Research, LLC, has produced over 80 economic impact analyses for utility-scale wind and solar projects in over 20 states. Learn more about Strategic Economic Research, LLC, at strategiceconomic.com.