Chambana Sun

State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) fails to see the logic in Gov. J.B. Pritzker supporting legislation aimed at closing fossil fuel plants across the state over the next two decades.

“Gov. Pritzker is talking about shutting down power generators, shutting down nuclear, coal, and gas facilities, when we don’t have enough energy today,” Caulkins said. “There’s no way that a windmill or a solar panel is going to replace the energy that’s being generated. This is the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be building more generating capacity to meet the demands of a growing state. If we want to grow this economy, we need to have reliable, cheap sources of energy.”

Caulkins points to operations at Prairie State Energy Campus as an example of the industry thriving to the benefit of the entire state.

“650 people work at Prairie State Energy Campus every day and they employ over a thousand union workers in that facility to maintain it,” he said. “It’s a huge part of the economy – not just in that community, but in the whole state of Illinois. They run at maximum capacity almost all the time. The electricity generated in that plant is desperately needed throughout our region.”

After the governor’s office recently stepped forward to reveal the administration is “in discussions with stakeholders to ensure” that Prairie State and a municipally owned coal plant in Springfield achieve “real interim emissions reductions” over the next two decades, several more lawmakers have emerged to voice opposition.

Passed by the Senate, SB 18 calls for Prairie State, and all other fossil fuel plants, to shutter by 2045, with clean energy and environmental groups adding between now and then the state’s largest carbon emitter should be forced to meet declining emissions caps.

If the bill doesn’t pass soon, Exelon has vowed to commence the closing of two of its local plants, insisting that operations are not sustainable without subsidies being included in the bill.

“The Illinois House has an opportunity to pass the strongest clean energy, pro-climate legislation in the country,” the Path to 100 coalition said in a statement released shortly after the Senate passed the omnibus bill. “We urge the House to act quickly to resolve any outstanding issues while preserving the critical renewable energy policies in SB 18 that all parties agreed to after years of negotiations.”

Lawmakers are working to address concerns about the financial ramifications of closing Prairie State. With the support of environmental groups across the state, talk of a bailout of as much as $600 million for the Exelon plants are already rumored.

Currently, Prairie State reigns as the state’s single biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions and the plant ranks ninth in the country for carbon dioxide releases.