Last year we successfully developed a shared vision with six core strategies aimed at amplifying the success of the Future Energy Jobs Act and continuing to modernize Illinois' grid. We also started to outline potential projects that could feed into the NextGrid process, provide empirical data, and serve as a fulcrum to test and inform utility of the future policy ideas that will be at center in the next legislative discussions, expected to start in Q3 2018. This year we propose to do a 'deep dive' on four of these policy/project ideas:

• Energy efficiency
• Electrification - with a particular focus on EV policy
• Rate Design/Performance-based Approaches
• Storage - with a particular focus on reducing peak demand

In all of these areas we will include a specific focus on low-and moderate income issues, to make sure that policy moving forward is as equitable as possible. It's also important to note that these issues are interrelated; so, for example, electrification done correctly can serve to balance some of the issues faced by utilities as load decreases and behind-the-meter storage/generation solutions grow. We picked these four issues because these will undoubtedly be central in future legislation that builds upon the success of FEJA (and because there are some complicated issues to think through). The goal will be to leave with four fully developed pilots that can move forward in 2018-early 2019 to facilitate discussions and negotiations.

Some members of the team have been meeting frequently to discuss issues attached to the Illinois Commerce Commission’s NextGrid proceeding. Conversations also have begun around the possibility of laying additional legislative groundwork for the electric utility’s evolution and decarbonization.