The Normal Council passed spending $80,000 with Farr Associates to plan Uptown 2.0 south of the tracks and might eliminate natural gas from being a part of it. Meanwhile, Mayor Chris Koos received maximum campaign donations from a Chicago/Washington DC lobbyist who works for Big Green energy companies.
The town is developing Uptown South with a potential goal of going all-green. This would mean no natural gas would be installed and Uptown South would be all electric.
Stan Nord, a Normal Town councilman, said that this would make Normal the first municipality to try and pull something like this off.
But can Normal pull this off legally? Will they be met with lawsuits like the one in California?
BLNNEWS pointed out this case where the California Restaurant Association sued Berkeley, California over an ordinance making natural gas pipelines illegal to install in one building.
The court found it violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act because it indirectly regulates appliances that use natural gas.
“States and localities can’t skirt the text of broad preemption provisions by doing indirectly what Congress says they can’t do directly,” said the judge in that case.
Currently Normal does not have an ordinance up for vote, but at a council meeting City Pam Reece Manger was asked by Stan Nord if the Town instructed Farr Associates to eliminate natural gas in the area. Reece said no but said Farr knows the Town policy on sustainability.
“The team working on this plan understands the Town’s values surrounding sustainability. The master plan, which is projected to look out 8 years or so, is projecting what might make sense in the next 8 years,” said Reece at a March council meeting.
Reece said eliminating natural gas is a possible regulation moving forward because the “experts and architects” recommend it.
Campaign donations from Recall Strategies Founder
Founder of Recall Strategies, a lobbying firm that helps Enel North America– a green energy company, Jonathan Callaway, six days after the Municipal election, contributed the maximum amount under Illinois law of campaign donations to Mayor Chris Koos. The maximum under Illinois law to an individual is $6,000.
From the State Board of Elections
This is the same Callaway who contributed the max to his employee Andy Byars, who was replaced on the Planning Commission at the last council meeting because he was recently elected to Normal Town council. Callway also contributed the max to recently re-elected Kathleen Lorenz.
After several phone calls and emails, the attorney representing Recall Strategies refuse to answer if Recall Strategies and/or their clients would benefit from Byars being elected trustee in Normal.
