Will County Gazette

Jed Davis, House Representative of Illinois, emphasized the need for energy policy to align with the demands of incoming development projects. He cautioned against an over-reliance on green energy before it is fully capable. The statement was made on the Prairie State Wire Podcast.

"Green energy, is awesome, I'm all for it," said Davis, State Representative from Illinois. "When it is ready and capable to meet the demands that we're putting on it. There are some massive data centers coming into the 75th this year. They're buying up hundreds of acres and proposing massive developments."

Illinois is facing a surge in electricity demand driven by the rapid expansion of data centers, prompting lawmakers to consider new regulatory measures. According to Capitol News Illinois, legislators are weighing a proposal that would require data centers to report their annual energy and water use to the Illinois Power Agency. This move aims to assess environmental impacts and protect residential ratepayers from potential cost increases due to high corporate energy consumption. The policy debate reflects efforts to reconcile economic development with sustainability.

Electricity demand in Illinois is projected to rise sharply due to the proliferation of data centers, especially those supporting artificial intelligence. As reported by Reuters, Exelon has identified over 11 gigawatts of potential data center demand growth in its Illinois service area, up from 6 GW the previous quarter. The company’s subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, experienced an 8% profit increase partly due to rising electricity rates and expanding energy needs.

Illinois ranks among the top five U.S. states in installed wind capacity yet still relies heavily on traditional energy sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Illinois had about 7,900 megawatts of wind power capacity as of 2023, generating 85% of its renewable electricity while solar accounted for 13%. Despite these gains, renewables made up just 14% of total in-state electricity generation, underscoring the dominance of fossil and nuclear energy.

Davis is a Republican legislator representing Illinois House District 75 since January 2023 and serves on several key committees, including Energy & Environment. According to the Illinois General Assembly website, he previously worked as a regional director for an international energy firm and held local government roles such as Newark village trustee. He holds a civil engineering degree from Valparaiso University and prioritizes infrastructure, energy policy, and family advocacy in his legislative work.

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FULL, UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT

Bryan Hyde: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Prairie State Wire Podcast. I'm Brian Hyde. Today I'm joined by representative Jed Davis. Jed, it's great to to meet you for the first time and for for others who are likewise getting to know you. Take a moment here. Give us a little bit about your background, who you are and what you do.

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Yeah, absolutely. It's a, a honor being here, so thank you for the invite. Jed Davis, 75th state rep, married, family, grandkids, which is crazy, but we're foster parents. I think that really drives a lot of what we do from a compassionate and heart perspective. I got into politics, man. I've loved. Politics forever.

I was a village trustee in the thriving metropolis of Newark for about four terms, which is where I live, a town of about a thousand people. So we're like right on the cusp of civilization. O'Hare is only about an hour and 15 away, so I can get anywhere. But I'm out kind of in the quiet, which is, which is awesome.

A civil engineer by degree do sales, their technical sales, but had the opportunity about three [00:01:00] years ago now to run for state rep. We're kind of the, the stars aligned. One of those moments in life where it's an now or never. If you don't jump now, man, it might not be there in two years. So we jumped in, went through a, a.

A wild ride from a primary perspective to get here, but so blessed to serve the people of the 75th. It's a lot of fun. 

Bryan Hyde: Well, it sounds like you've got to some pretty serious work cut out for you as well. And I'm talking specifically about to the budget, set the stage for me when it, when it comes to spending in the state of Illinois, what kind of budget are we talking about and and what's some of the work that you are setting out to do to, to make sure that that budget isn't breaking the backs of, you know, the, the, the people of Illinois?

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't even know where to begin from that perspective, but the budget is an absolute train wreck. We have been growing government in Illinois year after year after year, and, and the only way, we're not a business, so the only way we grow our revenue is to take it from people who are making their own revenue.

So we [00:02:00] are pillaging it from the people of Illinois through taxes and fees and fines and everything else you can kind of think of and just continue to grow. The state of Illinois while we, you know, I consider myself just an, I'm an average Joe. I live in an 1800 square foot house again in a small community in kind of northern Illinois.

So like we are being crushed by a rising cost of living, just soaring property taxes with kind of no end in sight and there's no appetite in the general assembly to maybe. Hey, let's press pause and pull things back. And from the Republican side of the aisle, I just feel like we're caught in kind of that circus with no real like firm direction of how to get out of it.

And it is just really extremely frustrating from my seat. I. 

Bryan Hyde: It would, it would seem that to the Republicans could, could really differentiate themselves between, you know, them and their, their democratic counterparts by making a, a stand, you know, as far as the budget goes and, and trimming back some of that spending.

Why, [00:03:00] why are, why are people within the GOP reluctant to, to do that? 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: I, I've been asking that question now for three years. I, I just a couple weeks ago kind of had the idea pop in my head that I feel like I'm caught on the Truman Show, if you've watched that, where the Dems have it very calculated, a very scripted environment down in Springfield.

We're kind of going through the motions. That they desire. And there's no real appetite from my side to just break out, like get me outta here. Like Truman was trying to figure out like, how in the world do I get out of this? 'cause I wanna know what's reality. And I think the people in Illinois are, are hungry for some leadership in that front.

I was pushing to, to say we need to file our own budget. All we do is kind of stand up on the floor at 2:00 AM and complain about billions being spent and rising costs and taxes and fees and like, but. No one's watching. Nobody watches. Unless you're a political junkie, no one's watching the floor. All these floor speeches and all that, nobody even knows they happened in the state of Illinois.

So we [00:04:00] need to actually propose something instead of complaining, let's provide a solution and propose our own budget. And I've just gotten pushback on that for. I don't even know the reason. It's impossible. We don't understand you're gonna cut things that are critical to Illinois, but if we don't start somewhere, we're just caught in the same cycle of the Truman Show year after years.

So I've been working diligently since the beginning of session, going line by line, and there's a lot of lines in our budget and I'm just doing it on my own. I'm gonna file, not file, but I'm gonna propose kind of a new path next week. I've got a report with a bunch of exhibits and back data to kind of back it up and we'll see what happens because I feel like we need it in Illinois.

And I just wanna start the 

Bryan Hyde: conversation. And just to put it into perspective, how, how large of a state budget are we talking? 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Yeah, we're north of 50 billion. The governor's proposing 55 billion, and it's hard to put that into context, but just really seven years ago we were only 40 billion. So in seven years, they're, they're [00:05:00] growing at $15 billion.

And a legitimate question is, man, if we're growing the government that much, you would think that we're feeling great benefits of that as, as just working families. And I don't know if you ask any working family in this state seven years ago, your life compared to today. Do you really feel $15 billion healthier?

You know, are there more benefits, more services being provided to your home? I, I would think the majority are gonna say no, and they're feeling worse. You know, it got rising costs across the board, so we need to just start peeling that back and freeing up the market to actually lower everyone's cost of living instead of trying to dictate it from above, because it just doesn't work.

Bryan Hyde: The conundrum that you've described here too though, is, is, is so on target in that most people don't really want to delve into the budgeting process. You know, it's, it's a lot of, it's not as exciting as some of the other more emotional topics that a legislature might [00:06:00] handle, but they feel those budgetary decisions.

And I think as you, as you were just pointing out here, nowhere do we feel that more than in that cost of living. 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Oh yeah, it's, it's insane. That, and property taxes, I've been at a lot of doors, thousands of doors here in my district and, and it's a constant theme, you know, and I think we lose pulse. We quickly go to Springfield and, and we just kind of forget who actually sent us there.

You get caught into these receptions and dinners, and I don't even go to any of that nonsense 'cause. I go to very little of it anyway, maybe the Farm Bureau and one or two others, but usually I just stay on the outskirts because we quickly forget again, who actually sent me to Springfield. That's not the lobbyist down in the halls of the Capitol.

It's the people of the 75th that I met at their front door, and they're facing real struggles. You know, you're facing real issues with, again, the property tax groceries. It is insane what it takes to feed my family of [00:07:00] four, every four, four kids and my two, my, my wife. So six every couple of weeks. It's just an insane amount of money compared to what it used to be.

So we need to fix and provide solutions, and I think we have the messaging of the Republicans have the ideas. We're just. I think, I don't know if we're scared or what, but I'm, I'm, I'm just kind of not waiting for their traditional paths anymore. 

Bryan Hyde: We're 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: gonna forge our own. 

Bryan Hyde: Tell me about how energy policies could play into reigning in the budget.

What, what are some of the ways that energy policies are are currently affecting that spending? I. 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: There's, there's countless examples. Energies is a great one. Just you, you see it, especially down south. We, again, we as Illinois are trying to dictate the free market. We are trying to prop up industries of wind and solar and electric vehicles and provide all of these avenues to prop up companies that, that have billions behind them.

Then we're coming along and trying [00:08:00] to prompt them up and push them along as the new greatest thing on the market. And what happens is you turn your back on proven trusted technology. So we're propping up all of this green energy, which is awesome. I'm all for it. But man, when, when it is ready and capable to meet the demands that we're putting on it, there are some massive.

Data centers coming into the 75th year, multiple of them, they're buying up hundreds of acres and proposing massive developments. They're coming here because we have reliable proven energy, and Springfield is turning its back on that and really trying to shut it out and put false mandates by this year.

You have to have no more coal by this year. Natural gas is the enemy, right? It's horrible. We have to get it from somewhere else and we're dictating the market. And then what happens is. You start messing with the supply and demand and the consumer's cost rises. We, we can't, we're not, we're not the market setter.

We're not. We're let, let's maintain [00:09:00] infrastructure, let's maintain services, but not, let's not start pretending like we are all things energy in Illinois. Let's let companies that know what they're doing, drive that. And when the technology and the demand is there, green energy will thrive. And I don't think it's too far off, but Illinois doesn't need to be the dictator.

Bryan Hyde: How do you think you can bridge the gap? That that would help the, the average person who's feeling that pinch in terms of their cost of living, but maybe hasn't yet connected the dots between what's happening in Springfield and, and the budgetary decisions and how it affects, you know, the, the pinch that they're feeling.

I. 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Yeah, man, that is a, a great question. I think messaging wise we're anemic and we, being Republicans, we're not real good at messaging and, and again, we're complaining about stuff on the floor that nobody listens to. I, I am heavy into politics, always had been prior to this life, and I really didn't even know all these committees existed in, in Springfield and we're so consumed with getting things on record in [00:10:00] committee and making statements.

All of that is important. Your family back home doesn't know what is happening under the dome. And, and we're not messaging properly back to those families to tell 'em how it's impacting their pocketbook. So we need to have these conversations on people's front porches because that is how we can start turning the tide.

And we need to show bold leadership. Man, I've, I'm showing, I've got over $7 billion that I've identified that I think we can whittle out. We can get back down to 44 billion. Wouldn't that be incredible? And at the same time. Let's send $1,500 checks. 'cause it's gonna be hard to turn the revenue spigot off immediately.

So if we can dial back the spend, we're gonna have some excess revenues coming in. Give it back to the people. Send $1,500 checks back to anyone, any home making a hundred thousand or less. I mean, that will get, like, people are gonna be like, holy cow, what's happening down here? And, and now all of a sudden you can kind of become relevant.

Where right now I think we're completely 

Bryan Hyde: irrelevant. [00:11:00] And, and let's talk for just a moment about the, what's going on with GOP leadership. You've mentioned there's a prime opportunity here, but it doesn't appear that they're seizing on it. I'm curious, do do you find, do you have to deal with uniparty issues?

And by that I mean legislators who may wear the Republican label, but, but they govern with, you know, they're, they're democratic counterparts, basically. They're, they're, they're indistinguishable by their actions, even though they may carry a little, slightly different to party title. 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: A little bit For sure.

You know, I, I think it's frustrating to me knowing the positions that I take and the district that I'm in, looking at the numbers here, you know, it's definitely a Republican district and I'm very grateful for that. But you look at other districts, mine looks, I. Purple compared to some of these other districts and we're not seeing the grit.

What I'm, what I'm really thinking we're missing is the grit people. I'm also the chair of the Kendall County Republicans, and I think candidates kind of come to central committees and just hope that I. They're gonna get you [00:12:00] elected and they don't have any ownership in their own messaging and values.

And we need candidates with grit. We need leadership with grit and to not be so caught up again in Springfield and having relationships, the right relationships across the aisle. Important, yes. But like we're sacrificing our values. And we're unwilling to message because our message can win and we just kinda let things go willy-nilly and and miss.

I can't even tell you how many opportunities we miss to message on point as as a 40 member caucus. There are some incredible things that if we were all saying the same message, like you see the media do all the time. We could get great traction, but we're too afraid to step on the heels of someone or someone else in the district that they might not wanna message that way.

So we just kind of throw it all out and we just miss it. We totally miss it. Which, which is unfortunate. 

Bryan Hyde: Something we see at the national level, I think particularly is a, an avoidance [00:13:00] of accountability. This is why the omnibus bills seem to be the way that a lot of the budgetary measures are passed, you know, where everything's lumped into one bill and you don't really have to be too accountable because, well, there's some stuff that's really necessary and the, the garbage stuff, I had to vote for it to get the necessary stuff.

I, I'm curious if. If you see likewise within, within the Republican party there in Illinois, are there those who are trying to escape that accountability to make sure that the voters don't have something negative to hang on them come election time? 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Yeah, ab absolutely omnibus. I hate omnibus bills. So last session, my own, I.

Bill, I had an amazing bill that got sucked into, it was the first Republican bill out committee last session. I won't go into it. It's a great bill. It shows you that the Dems moved it as the first bill with great bipartisan support. I even had Anta Murray as a chief Co. So like her and I are like oil and water, so we're totally different people.

So a really good bill. I got sucked into the Medicaid omnibus and, and I voted no. I voted no on that thing even though there wasn't a lot. [00:14:00] It was kind of mediocre. There was one or two bills in there that I would rather have not be in there, but I could have safely voted for that, but I'm like, this is nonsense.

This isn't how we should be governing in Illinois, and you can't now get cover and carry bad legislation across the finish line because you were forced to vote for something that is in there that is your own. So I took a lot of heat for that. I had leadership literally within seconds of casting that vote, I had house leadership over my, my, my shoulder whispering in my ear, what are you doing?

That's a mistake. They're not gonna fund your program. And I just wanted to say are, are you the rep of the 75th or, or am I. This, this is how I feel based on thousands of conversations that I've had. People want real leadership and they want someone willing to say the status quo is not acceptable anymore.

And if it means voting against my own bill from a principled position of the way we're doing things is is nonsense, then that's what I'm going to do and just let me be my rep. I'm like, [00:15:00] let me be me. Don't, don't try to shape me into who you think Springfield wants. I know what my district wants and, and that is what the principal position I took on 

Bryan Hyde: that vote.

Do you have Democratic colleagues who likewise share the fiscal concerns that you do? Oh, yes, there 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: are. There's some. There's some really good Democrats down there. I know that might sound insane, but they're in heavily D districts and they're districts that Republicans aren't gonna win, just practically speaking.

So these are people that I can value because I don't want the far left progressive in their seat. They're people that are moderates. There are. JFK style Democrats that are concerned about the runaway government that the progressive branch has brought into Springfield. So they're allies. We need to help them.

We need to actually help them like. Instead of just hiding and kind of complaining, let's get out and lead and bring them along with us and start kind of applying pressure across the board and, and we're not really doing, again, a good [00:16:00] job at that. But there are, there are moderate thems down there, and I'm very grateful for them because Springfield, believe it or not, could get a lot worse without them.

So it's good to have them as partners on the fiscal issue. 

Bryan Hyde: One final question for you. What do you wish more of, either your constituents or just voters in general in Illinois understood about the budgeting process that takes place in Springfield? 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Well, yeah. It's, it's, it's garbage. It's complete garbage.

It is not it transparent on any level. It is, is a hundred. Million percent beneath the electorate of Illinois as to how we actually do what we do, and I think whether it's the budget or omnibus bills or these last minute gut and replace bills where you sneak in legislation under the radar that didn't technically go through the proper channels, but that Bill Number did, but the content didn't.

All of this stuff is beneath the electorate, and I feel like. People don't know [00:17:00] what's actually happening in Springfield because again, we're not messaging properly of, of what it is and how, how it impacts your pocketbook every day. I just wish people knew that this whole handshake work together for the good of the people.

None of that's happening. Things are happening behind closed doors and they're shoving really bad legislation through literally under the cover of darkness, with no time to vet it. No time to read it. Anyone that's telling you that we read bills in, in Springfield is a complete fabrication. There is. It's designed to not allow you to have the time to read, to vote on it for the constituents of your district.

So the whole thing is broken and it just needs, it needs a big kind of cherry bomb thrown in and just kind of a restart. With the people in mind, not the vested interests of the lobbyists, and that's what the people have no idea is happening on a minute by minute basis. Down in Springfield. 

Bryan Hyde: Again, we are talking with [00:18:00] Jed Davis.

He is a state representative for Illinois 75th District. Jed, thanks for taking the time to come on the Prairie State Wire Podcast and, and talk to us about this and, and these other issues. It's, it's great to visit with you. 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity. Go White side. 

Bryan Hyde: This 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: is 

Bryan Hyde: the Prairie State 

IL State Rep. Jed Davis: Wire 

Bryan Hyde: Podcast.