After more than two years of legislative proposals and negotiations, on Wednesday, December 7, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law the Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814). The bill, which contains support for renewable energy, nuclear energy and energy efficiency, was passed by the Illinois legislature on December 1, the last day of veto session, with bipartisan support and will take effect June 1, 2017.

On February 24-26, more than 650 energy professionals (a new attendance record!) gathered at the Chicago Hilton & Towers to discuss energy efficiency, the utility industry, benefits to economic development, industrial efficiency and the potential impact of state and federal regulations at the 14th annual Midwest Energy Solutions Conference. With experts and business leaders from around the globe, MES was an unparalleled opportunity to network, swap best practices and plot the future of the energy efficiency community.

This year’s MES conference tackled critical questions like: