Capital News Illinois covered AEE’s Electrifying Illinois report, quoting AEE’s Daniel Bloom on report findings and policy recommendations. The story was picked up by 26 other outlets including the Illinois Business Journal. Read excerpts below and the full story here.

SPRINGFIELD – A national clean energy trade organization has released a report showing growth in electric transportation-related jobs in Illinois could position the state to lead the domestic supply chain.

Advanced Energy Economy, an industry association which promotes advanced energy technologies and services, released its “Electrifying Illinois” report which shows the state is on pace to reach 83 percent job growth in electric transportation-related work by 2024, regardless of legislative action…

The anticipated growth would drive the workforce numbers up from the current 5,200 workers in Illinois to roughly 9,500 workers within the next three years, or less than three years, according to the study, which used multiple data collection methods to analyze the state’s electric vehicle supply chain.

Daniel Bloom, who leads legislative campaigns across the Midwest for AEE, said this projected growth is a “conservative estimate.”

“This (report) is really looking at the opportunity for Illinois, but from the regional perspective,” Bloom said. “We don't see a reason why Illinois can't become a new Detroit.”

There were roughly 27,000 total electric vehicles registered in Illinois as of March 2021, Bloom said. AEErecommends the state reach 1.2 million electric vehicles by 2030, but “policymakers can accelerate this transition by taking the right steps in legislation this spring,” Bloom said…

Some of AEE’s recommendations include establishing a tax credit for electric vehicle companies that relocate to Illinois or are located downstate, and initiating a regulatory process to emphasize building out “make-ready” charging infrastructure…

“With investments that we're seeing in the state from companies like Rivian, we hope that this is a signal to encourage additional private investment in the state of Illinois and make us a global leader in not just meeting the demand that we have locally in the state or regionally, but because of the globalized nature of this supply chain, being able to meet that with work that's done in Illinois is really critical,” Bloom said…

“It's not just companies that have built up as servicing only the electric vehicle supply chain, but it's also companies that have had operations across a various number of sectors that are starting to build this into their operational capacity,” Bloom said.  “So that's fascinating as we look at emerging opportunities across the whole supply chain.”…

As demand for electric vehicles increases, so does the demand for charging infrastructure.

Bloom emphasized that expanding necessary training programs in the state is essential to continued growth in the industry, which is why AEE recommends broadening geographic reach and availability of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program…

Read the full story here.