ILLINOIS VOTERS SAY NO TO UTILITY SPECIAL RIGHTS LEGISLATION
“ROFR” (RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL) WILL RAISE ELECTRICITY PRICES
Support Governor Pritzker’s Veto
Illinois voters are overwhelmingly against ROFR legislation—Right of First Refusal — that grants special rights to utilities. This past spring, the Illinois General Assembly passed ROFR legislation that gives utilities like Ameren multi-billion-dollar contracts to construct new transmission lines, without going through a competitive process. Competition for transmission line construction results in savings of 20-30% for consumers. The survey showed voters across Illinois in a a bipartisan manner agree laws like ROFR will lead to higher electricity rates.
Voters Support a Veto
Governor JB Pritzker has vetoed the ROFR utility special rights law. After hearing objections to the legislation, 77% of voters supported him including 81% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans and 75% of Independents.
The survey was conducted by a bi-partisan research team that included the Democratic polling firm GQR and the Republican firm TargetPoint Consulting from May 30-June 1, 2023.
What is ROFR?
Right of First Refusal legislation, or ROFR, gives special rights to utilities like Ameren by limiting competition on who can build electric transmission lines and automatically grants current utility providers the right to build any new transmission lines in their service area. Tens of billions of dollars in new transmission lines are slated for development in the Midwest in the coming years.
What the Survey Says about Illinois Voters and ROFR
ROFR Raises Electricity Prices
78% of voters agree that granting special rights to utilities will increase electricity prices.
ROFR Protects Citizens, Not Utilities
78% of voters want Illinois legislators to protect their interests, not incumbent utilities.
Competition Works
Illinois voters support competition because it works and leads to cost savings - both overlooked when the Illinois legislature passed legislation giving special rights to utilities.
ROFR Violates Free Market Principles
70% agree that legislation giving special rights to utilities simply runs against core principles of free-markets and open competition.
ROFR Wastes Taxpayer Money on Lawsuits
A ROFR law was thrown out by a federal court in Texas for being unconstitutional, voters believe the Illinois legislation will end up in court as well, wasting taxpayers money.
