The spatial and scalar politics of a just energy transition in Illinois

Abstract

Illinois passed the Energy Transition Act (i.e., the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act or CEJA) in 2021, which established clean energy mandates with an emphasis on social equity. We examine CEJA and related policies to understand the politics of Illinois' energy transition. While CEJA has been praised as an approach to a just transition, critics argue that it exacerbated Illinois' rural-urban dichotomy by distributing benefits to urban areas defined as ‘environmental justice communities’ and tangible costs, in the form of clean energy infrastructure, to rural communities. We demonstrate that, leading up to and in response, 1) local governments deployed measures to oppose renewable energy development and 2) the state, in turn, scaled authority for energy governance upward to inhibit opposition. By framing reduced participation as necessary for just climate action, Illinois undermined procedural forms of justice viewed as critical to a just transition and reinforced energy as a partisan political issue. This case illustrates how a narrow definition of justice can contribute to distributive conflict in the energy transition and identifies a need for more inclusive strategies to manage such conflict.