Pekin power plant purchased

From a news release:

 

Community Members Most Impacted by Midwest Generation Coal Plant Pollution Call on NRG Energy to Establish Responsible Plans and Retirement Dates

 

WAUKEGAN and PEORIA, Ill. Oct. 21, 2013—NRG Energy Inc., a New Jersey-based power producer, last Friday announced plans to purchase Edison Mission Energy, which includes Midwest Generation and its five coal-fired power plants in Illinois.

The Illinois coal plants included in the sale are Midwest Generation’s Powerton in Pekin, IL, Joliet 9, Joliet 29, Waukegan and Will County Romeoville coal-fired power plants in central and northern Illinois. The coal plants currently lack modern pollution controls, and are responsible for a combined 3,460 asthma attacks, 321 heart attacks and 206 deaths every year, according the Clean Air Task Force.

 “NRG Energy is now going to be the owner of some of the dirtiest coal plants in Illinois that are repeated violators of clean air and clean water standards in Illinois,” said Tracy Fox, Peoria resident just downwind of the Powerton coal plant and member of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance. “This pollution costs our communities millions of dollars in health costs and we are very disappointed that NRG apparently plans to continue operating both the Powerton and Joliet stations.”

Midwest Generation and its California parent company, Edison Mission Energy, filed for bankruptcy in late 2012. These plants had reported financial losses for years, and energy market analysts have long identified some of their plants, particularly the one in Waukegan, as possible candidates for retirement. Earlier in the year the Sierra Club contracted with Synapse Energy Economic and released the report “Midwest Generation’s Coal Plants: Too Expensive to Compete,” which highlighted the deteriorating financial condition of the company given the challenging market circumstances and looming costs of pollution controls.

"Regardless of ownership, the time is long overdue for this antiquated and environmentally harmful power plant to close—for the good of our lake, our air and our children,” said Preston Kendall, President of Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan. “It's hard to imagine this plant still running if it were located in some of the other communities in Lake County; the residents of Highland Park or Lake Forest wouldn't stand for it and neither should Waukegan. I encourage elected officials in Waukegan to work with NRG Energy and community stakeholders to establish a clear phase-out date for the plant and to identify better, cleaner opportunities for the site.”

For the past several months, the Clean Power Lake County Coalition had brought attention to the air and water concerns at the plant as well as the uncertain financial condition of the company. “We’ve repeatedly called on the company and elected officials to establish a long-term plan for this plant and this sale proves that Midwest Generation had no intention of staying in our community,” said Jennifer Witherspoon, Waukegan resident and President of the NAACP Lake County Branch. “As we saw in NRG Energy’s press release, it has said nothing about its plans for the Waukegan plant and it’s important that NRG work with our community to figure out a reasonable phase-out date and transition plan for the site and the workers,” she added.

The community organization CARE in Will County (Citizens Against Ruining the Environment) has worked for almost two decades to bring attention to the pollution issues at both the Midwest Generation Romeoville and Joliet stations. “We are upset that another out-of-state company is coming in run these dangerous emitters of air and water pollution,” said Ellen Rendulich, Lockport resident and Director of CARE. “NRG Energy needs to know that community members are not going to allow these plants to continue to pollute our communities unchecked. We would like the company to establish a clear plan for their plants that will allow just transitions for the workers and include retirement dates so that we can chart a cleaner, healthier future for our families.”

Midwest Generation’s coal plants have faced numerous lawsuits for both clean air and clean water violations. A lawsuit for numerous violations of the Clean Air Act against all of MWG’s coal plants is still currently being pursued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Illinois and the community organization CARE. Additionally, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, CARE and Prairie Rivers Network filed a lawsuit in 2012 for groundwater violations at each of the plants. Before EME filed bankruptcy in 2012, the Sierra Club also filed a lawsuit for repeated sulfur dioxide violations at each of the coal plants. Last week the Sierra Club filed a motion in EME’s bankruptcy case to allow its lawsuit for sulfur dioxide violations at each of the plants to proceed before the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

Midwest Generation is also the owner of the Fisk and Crawford generating stations in Chicago, which closed in 2011 after years of pressure from community residents, public health organizations, and the Mayor of Chicago.

The Clean Power Lake County Coalition aims to bring the Lake County community together to build a just future of clean air, clean water and a revitalized lakefront in Lake County. The coalition consists of the NAACP’s Lake County Branch, Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, Christ Episcopal Church of Waukegan, Faith in Place, the Exchange Club of North Chicago, Respiratory Health Association, League of Women Voters of Lake County, the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Sierra Club.

 The Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance (CIHCA) is a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to creating a sustainable and healthy community for Central Illinois. CIHCA is concerned about the decades of air and water pollution created by the Edwards coal plant south of Bartonville. CIHCA is working to retire the Edwards plant and transition Central Illinois to a cleaner energy economy by reducing energy use, and moving to renewables such as wind and solar.

Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (CARE) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization, founded in 1995 that works to protect the health and safety of the Will County community and the environment.

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