"Two communities seeking cleaner, cheaper energy are resisting pressure to extend deals that bind them to getting power from one of the nation’s dirtiest plants."
"Across Illinois, dozens of communities are locked into contracts to buy power from the state’s biggest coal plant for decades to come. But two cities in search of cheaper, cleaner energy want out.
The Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, a nonprofit that procures power for 32 municipal electric utilities, has been asking its members to extend their commitments to buy energy through the group until 2055, even though existing contracts don’t lapse for another decade. Most communities signed on, but two that account for almost half of IMEA’s power demand — the Chicago suburbs of Naperville and St. Charles — have rebelled, declining to renew their contracts past 2035.
A major reason: residents’ desire to get cleaner energy and break ties with the Prairie State Energy Campus, a 1.6-gigawatt facility in rural southern Illinois that is the state’s largest coal plant. IMEA owns 15% of Prairie State, which makes up over a third of the agency’s power portfolio. IMEA also has an ownership stake in the Trimble coal plant in Kentucky, meaning coal represents almost half of its generation assets.
Since the two cities aren’t planning to re-up with IMEA, they are free to negotiate power supply deals with other companies that they hope can provide renewable energy and cheaper rates."
