Majority of Illinois Residents Oppose Nuclear Bailout

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Citizens Against Corporate Bailouts (CACB) today released results of a new online poll showing that voting age Illinois residents strongly oppose by a four to one margin (63%-15%) provisions in the Future Energy Jobs Bill that would provide a bail-out for Exelon's two unprofitable nuclear power plants. If signed into law, the bill would grant a subsidy of $235 million per year over a ten-year period (a total of $2.35 billion) to energy giant Exelon, which would be paid by electric utility consumers in the form of higher electric bills.

"We urge Governor Rauner to veto this bill; it's anti-competitive, anti-consumer and it represents corporate welfare at its most extreme," said Gregg Keller, executive director of CABC, the organization that commissioned the survey. "This bill goes against the free market principles on which this country is based, and on which Governor Rauner built his career. The multi-billion-dollar gift to Exelon would be on the backs of hard working Illinois families who can't afford to see their electricity bills go even higher," Keller said.

Three out of four Illinois residents who responded to the 1Q® (https://1q.com/) survey believe that Exelon is trying to force a quick decision on its subsidy before the true costs and benefits can be weighed. Fully three-quarter of respondents believe that Exelon is trying to get quick approval of the bailout under a guise of urgency. 

Though the majority of respondents oppose the nuclear bailout, they aren't opposed to nuclear power – they support the use of nuclear power by a margin of 39% to 23%.

About the Survey

The survey of 767 Illinois residents of voting age was conducted last week by CABC using 1Q®, a technology startup whose mission is to radically revolutionize the rules of polling. Based in Atlanta, 1Q® has developed a platform in which pollsters can segment and target through their mobile-only panel of hundreds of thousands of unique individuals, and get real-time responses and results.

Contact:  Gregg Keller, (314) 258-3137 or gregg@atlasstrategygroup.com

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SOURCE Citizens Against Corporate Bailouts