Voters continue to show very little support for proposed Illinois legislation that would increase incumbent utility control over the state’s electric power grid, according to a recent poll. .

The poll found that a supermajority of voters agrees that so-called “Right of First Refusal Legislation” currently being considered once again by the Illinois Legislature has many downsides for consumers.

The legislation, which Governor Pritzker vetoed after passage by the legislature in 2023, would limit competition on who can build transmission lines - the large power lines that carry electricity from the power generating facilities to your local utility provider – and automatically grant current incumbent electric utilities the right to build any new transmission lines in their service area, instead of allowing a competitive bidding process to take place. Similar legislation was withdrawn from consideration in 2024.