Illinois Power Agency pushes back after Pres. Trump calls solar energy a 'scam'

Illinois (KHQA) — The Illinois Power Agency and the Coalition for Community Solar Access both said that solar energy is bringing energy costs down for consumers, not up.

The pushback from the agency comes after President Donald Trump claimed on Aug. 20 that “any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS. THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY! We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar. The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!! MAGA” in a social post on Truth Social.

Both the IPA and Coalition for Community Solar Access said that the rising energy costs across the country are due to an increase in demand, not the type of energy source.

“Families across the country are seeing their prices go up. But the reason for that is because there is a, we’re having an energy supply issue at this moment. Demand is growing across the country as more and more…As we start to use more artificial intel intelligence, as more data centers are starting to come online. So, we haven’t seen this kind of load growth in the country in the US in over 15 years,” said Stephanie Burgos-Veras, the Senior Policy Manager for Coalition for Community Solar Access.

IPA said that solar and wind energy are actually helping limit the impact and cost of the increasing demand, not hurting families’ pocketbooks.

IPA said wind and solar are the most cost-effective energy sources and that states with high levels of clean energy actually have the lowest rate increases.

“Prices are going up, but that is because we need to add more supply onto the grid, not less…We believe that clean energy helps lower costs for the consumer because it allows to bring in a cheaper, faster energy onto the grid,” said Burgos-Veras.

While the future of solar on a national level is uncertain, Burgos-Veras also said that the coalition hopes Illinois lawmakers will pass SB40 in the future—a bill that brings more support for solar farms and community solar programs to the state.

Full statement from the IPA:

Energy costs have spiked recently largely due to increasing electricity demand. These increases have occurred across the multi-state footprints of the two Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that serve Illinois, PJM and MISO. Rising electricity costs reflect changing national energy market dynamics rather than Illinois-specific factors. These costs can be attributed to RTO-specific issues, such as the design of capacity markets and delays in the interconnection queues for new generation.

Rather than being driven by technology-specific generation costs, these spikes are primarily tied to increases in capacity market prices, which compensate generators for being available during times of peak electricity demand. That being said, from a construction cost standpoint, renewables like utility-scale solar and wind remain the most cost-effective forms of new energy generation that would be needed to meet growing demand, according to Lazard’s 2025 analysis.

Additionally, states with high levels of clean energy have experienced some of the lowest electricity increases in the nation, according to a recent report from energy research group Energy Innovation. The report also states some of the largest factors driving higher bills are transmission and distribution costs and natural gas price volatility, rather than the adoption of clean energy.