Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy meeting, July 12, 2023
- When: Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 10:00 AM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Scheduled & Published
- Committee: Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy
- Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8928545/video/844299013
- Transcript: full text (25,579 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy, in Chair Maria E. Hadden first meeting, held two subject matter hearings with no votes on legislation. Public commenters spoke mostly about ComEd's reliability, rates and disconnections, with several urging municipalization and two describing ComEd community assistance partnerships. The Department of Public Health, the Office of Climate and Environmental Equity and environmental justice partners presented the ongoing cumulative impact assessment, public engagement opportunities through July 31, and a timeline for findings and policy recommendations in the fall. ComEd executives then presented summer preparedness, reliability data and customer assistance programs, and members asked about electrification readiness, outage metrics in extreme heat, small business assistance, program funding, renewable investment and profits.
Topics: Cumulative impact assessment, Environmental justice, ComEd summer preparedness, Grid reliability, Customer bill assistance, Electrification, Flooding response, Municipal utility, Department of Environment
Agenda items discussed
- 26:19 Subject matter hearing on the Chicago Department of Public Health cumulative impact assessment: discussed
- 1:44:04 Subject matter hearing on ComEd summer preparedness: discussed
Alderpersons who spoke
- Maria E. Hadden (chair): Described this as her first meeting as chair and said the committee would work collaboratively on environmental legislation. (25:17); Introduced the cumulative impact assessment as part of a settlement with HUD over environmental racism and said it will inform zoning, permitting and enforcement decisions. (26:19); Responded that much of aldermanic decision-making relies on judgment and qualitative data, and said industry has long had influence while communities have not had a voice. (1:31:19)
- William Conway (alderperson): Asked what is driving the widening racial life expectancy gap and how highway pollution and lack of park space in the 34th Ward affect health. (56:09); Asked ComEd to clarify its outage frequency and duration metrics and how reliable the grid would be in an extreme heat summer like 1995. (2:24:06)
- Bennett R. Lawson (alderperson): Asked whether the cumulative impact approach would apply to public infrastructure like roads and highways and what the timeline is for an ordinance. (1:04:03); Asked whether brownouts have decreased since grid upgrades and how ComEd assists small businesses with unpaid bills. (2:38:05)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Said community engagement and input from elected officials were lacking under the previous administration and asked about the engagement and implementation timeline. (1:08:37); Raised concerns about inconsistent coordination among the Illinois EPA, U.S. EPA Region 5 and the city, and asked whether an ordinance is expected within a year. (1:12:57); Asked for regular reporting back to council members and said communication with alderpersons should be transparent. (1:16:58)
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (alderperson): Praised the assessment work, noted that policies often fail in implementation, and asked whether the city needs a Department of Environment. (1:18:11)
- Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Asked which business and industry groups participated in the assessment's working groups and urged that they be included before legislation moves forward. (1:23:03); Asked how unquantifiable quality-of-life factors would be measured, warning that judgment-based decisions could expose the city to lawsuits. (1:27:33); Asked whether ComEd's grid could currently handle full electrification if the city moved away from natural gas. (2:18:57)
- Monique L. Scott (alderperson): Asked what determines a public health crisis and said West Side wards affected by recent flooding received no outreach from city departments. (1:33:52)
- Julia M. Ramirez (alderperson): Asked how ComEd decides funding levels for its customer assistance programs and whether they are funded by shareholders or ratepayers. (2:41:49)
Exchanges between members
- 1:18:28 Manaa-Hoppenworth acknowledged the sense of urgency Sigcho-López expressed.
- 1:31:19 Hadden responded to Lopez by cautioning against discounting qualitative data and lived experience.
- 1:38:03 Hadden said the flooding response issue Scott raised is a gap affecting other wards as well.
- 1:38:12 Hadden referenced Manaa-Hoppenworth's point about the need for a Department of Environment.
- 2:22:18 Hadden clarified to Lopez that building decarbonization proposals focus on new construction.
- 2:23:24 Lopez asked the chair for copies of ComEd's opening statements for members.