CHICAGO (AP) – Illinois utilities are not doing enough to improve tree trimming, train their work force or screen employees to reduce the chance of terrorist attacks on the power grid, a state task force says in a report to be released Wednesday.

“We have to have a much more urgent approach to our energy infrastructure,” Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, chairman of the 11-member task force, told The Associated Press Tuesday.

Similar task forces were created in states across the nation after a blackout last August left millions without power in parts of the Midwest and Northeast.

The task force that examined Illinois’ power system came up with 32 recommendations that Quinn said he hopes become law or are at least adopted by the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates utilities.

“What comes up over and over again from the actual linemen who maintain and repair the system is they’re overworked, there’s not enough of them,” Quinn said. “If you don’t have a 21st Century system in place to train and recruit workers, we’re courting disaster.”

Meg Amato, a spokeswoman for Com Ed, which covers more than 70 percent of Illinois, said worker overtime is necessary in a business where emergencies can happen 24 hours a day.

“But we follow regulations and guidelines to maintain their safety and make sure they are working with the proper rests and breaks,” she said.

Many of the recommendations were in a draft report issued in May, but the panel has since added a recommendation that regulators carefully review how utilities are conducting background checks on employees and contractors.

“We don’t want too many people with access to the system, especially remote access,” Quinn said. “If people with bad motives are able to hack in, that’s a serious problem.”

When the power went out last August, the initial fear was a terrorist attack. A federal report later determined operators at Ohio’s FirstEnergy Corp., where the blackout started, were inadequately trained and computer problems kept them from quickly recognizing that problems on three lines were causing the Midwest power grid to become unstable. The blackout cascaded through Michigan and into the Northeast.

The Illinois report also says tree-trimming is a problem and recommends lawmakers require a specific clearance between power lines and trees. “A tree leaning against a power line is equal to three sticks of dynamite,” Quinn said.