Commonwealth Edison has added to the already intensified political situation in Illinois over the future of state-energy policy.”The utility is backing legislation being introduced today in Springfield that effectively is a response to the clean-jobs bill backed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a coalition of environmental, consumer and labor groups, along with renewable power developers and energy-efficiency firms.

ComEd’s 11th-hour bill, coming as the spring session is well underway, also could be intended to build more support for a bill pushed by ComEd parent Exelon to raise electricity rates throughout much of the state in order to increase revenue at Exelon’s six Illinois nuclear plants.” [Chicago Business]

Georgetown, a Central Texas city, is planning to become 100% renewable energy desisting away from fossil fuels.”Georgetown’s municipal utility on Wednesday unveiled plans to abandon traditional electricity sources like coal and gas power plants, instead exclusively tapping wind and solar energy to meet all of its customers’ power needs. It is the state’s first city-owned utility to make that leap.

The city announced a 25-year deal with SunEdison, the world’s largest renewable energy company, to buy 150 megawatts of solar power beginning next year. The company said it would build a solar farm in West Texas to meet the demand.” [KERA News]

Oil prices fell again by the close of Thursday, after a minister representing OPEC said the group did not have a choice with regards to cutting oil production because it faced losing its global market share.”Speaking to reporters in Kuwait City, Ali al-Omair, the Kuwaiti oil minister, said the dramatic drop in the price of oil would affect the country’s revenues and its fiscal budget for the year, Reuters reported Thursday.

“Within OPEC we don’t have any other choice than keeping the ceiling of production as it is because we don’t want to lose our share in the market,” he said Thursday morning, according to the news agency.” [CNBC]