Dear Chairwoman Williams,
Thank you for your hard work over the last month chairing the Energy and Environment Committee. I always appreciate the lively and spirited debates we have on these important issues facing the state. I enjoy being able to discuss our goals on how to move forward with stable and clean energy sources.
I am writing you to request a subject matter hearing on an issue that is important to my district and relevant to our committee discussions on energy supply. Last month, we witnessed a severe cold snap that plagued much of the nation including far southern portions of Texas and Oklahoma. This region supplies a large portion of our Natural Gas, but the weather caused a severe interruption in the supply system. The result of this disruption has made its way throughout communities in Illinois as residents and various municipalities are seeing exorbitant natural gas bills. This issue particularly hurts residents of municipalities that have a contract with independent suppliers, some from other states or regions, to get their natural gas supply. The pain has been especially tough for individuals and families with low or fixed incomes, particularly our senior residents.
Attorney General Raul opened up an investigation to gather all of the relevant facts in this incident and go over any potential bad actors that might have used the occasion for market manipulation. Many efforts are underway to find the underlying cause of this incident and help get relief to our residents that need our help the most.
I appreciate all your leadership on the Energy and Environment Committee, and I know we still have a great deal of critical discussions left to accomplish as we get into the busiest time of session. I respectfully request as our discussions progress that we take some time as a committee to investigate this critical issue through a subject matter hearing. Our residents continue to deal with the financial woes of the pandemic, which for some of our communities this issue has made their challenges far worse. I appreciate your consideration of the matter and please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Michael T. Marron
State Representative 104th House District