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New law gives $300 million incentive for coal plants
CARTERVILLE - Gov. Rod Blagojevich stepped on an SIU campus Thursday for the first time since last fall's campaign to usher in a bill designed to aid the dying Illinois coal industry.
House Bill 2866, which was signed Thursday afternoon at the SIUC Coal Research Development Park in Carterville, brings more than $300 million of new funds to finance coal power plants throughout the state through lowered bond and interest rates.
Blagojevich said the bill attempts to rekindle the coal industry, which suffered greatly when the Environmental Protection Agency passed new guidelines during the mid-1980s.
"As environmental standards changed, our coal industry changed along with it - all for the worse," Blagojevich said. "Back when the Clean Air Act was signed into law, we were led to believe it was simply impossible to burn Illinois coal and meet federal environmental standards. But today, that is simply not the case."
Three plants in Illinois currently use Illinois coal and clean coal technology, which meets EPA guidelines, to produce energy for Illinois homes: Duck Creek in Canton, the Southern Illinois Co-op in Marion and City Water, Light and Power Co. in Springfield.
The bill also reduces obstacles for out-of-state energy companies to bring coal plants to Illinois by allowing easier access to more than $500 million in grants for clean coal plants.
Bill Hoback, head of the Office of Coal Development for the Illinois Department of Commerce, said two companies have made plans to build clean coal plants in Illinois and are close to receiving their permits. Hoback said it takes about 18 months for the paperwork to go through if the company is well prepared, but the process has recently sped up for some proposed plants.
The governor estimated that for every clean coal plant built in Illinois, at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, 4,000 jobs would be created through plant operation, construction and mining.
Gary Butler, an executive board member for the United Mine Workers of America, said the coal industry employed more than 18,000 people in the 1980s before EPA restrictions closed many coal plants, and consequently, coal mines. Today, the coalmines employ less than 4,000 Illinois workers.
"We had a huge loss of employment, and this is part of an ongoing effort to revitalize business," he said.
Although new coal plants probably would not re-open closed mines throughout the Southern Illinois region, Butler said it would open new ones. However, the re-employment is contingent on energy corporations, whether or not they wish to take this risk of building coal plants.
Former state Sen. Larry Woolard, who works as the Southern Illinois liaison for the state Department of Commerce and Community Development, said because it is up to the companies to take advantage of the resources provided by the bill, the immediate impact will be slight.
"You have to have companies that are willing to spend the money," he said. "Every work is a work in progress."
Woolard said coal is the cheapest form of energy, and one of the most abundant with natural gas reserves emptying. Increased coal use could alleviate high gas prices this winter, which are expected to double. Illinois, which ranks ninth among coal-producing states, currently produces more than $1 billion of coal each year, 80 percent of which is used for energy.
Dan Brown, a laid-off miner from the Rend Lake coal mine, said he hopes companies will take advantage of the incentives for clean coal plants and bring more jobs to coal miners throughout the state.
Brown said it is in everyone's best interest to utilize Illinois' abundant coal resources.
"It's kind of like the little old man who dies from freezing or starving to death, but when you look at his assets, he had $2 million in his checking account," Brown said. "You have to wonder why he didn't use what he had."
