|
 Houston-based Dynegy Inc., which still must acquire the plants
from Ameren Corp., now has until 2020 to install state-mandated soot controls.
It also must continue to burn only low-sulfur coal at the three plants that
don't yet have "scrubbers" to remove the pollutants, and close down an operating
unit at one of the plants as soon as possible.
The panel voted 3-1 to approve the order, and would not comment afterward. Board
Chairwoman Deanna Glosser cast the only dissenting vote, saying she did not
believe the company demonstrated an economic hardship. Her opinion would be
posted on the board's website by Monday, an aide said.
Dynegy spokeswoman Katy Sullivan said the acquisition from St. Louis-based
Ameren provided the best future for the plants, their employees and the
communities in which they're located, and should be completed next month.
 "We believe we can operate these facilities particularly cost effectively
because of the similarities to" the four coal-fired plants Dynegy already owns
in Illinois, she said.
Ameren CEO Thomas Voss said the company now will focus on its rate-regulated
electric, natural gas and transmission operations.
Environmental groups opposed the waiver, saying the delay would hurt public
health and that Dynegy knew the pollution controls were needed when it agreed to
acquire the plants.
"Delaying these protections ... comes at a high cost to Illinois families and
communities," said Andrew Armstrong, a staff attorney with the Environmental Law
& Policy Center.
But local officials in many of the towns where the plants are located supported
Dynegy's request.
About 600 people are employed at Ameren's five plants — Duck Creek in the Fulton
County town of Canton, E.D. Edwards in Peoria County's Bartonville, Coffeen in
Montgomery County, Newton in Jasper County, and Joppa in Massac County. The
companies have said the combined local economic impact of the five plants is
more than $1 billion.
Newton Mayor Mark Bolander rejoiced about Thursday's decision as if it were an
early Christmas present, saying the southern Illinois farm community of about
2,850 relies heavily on the taxes generated by the plant.
"This is great, great news," Bolander said. "We're kind of all breathing a
collective sigh of relief, and we dodged a bullet."
Dynegy had said acquiring the plants from St. Louis-based Ameren — a company so
eager to shed the plants it is essentially giving them away — hinged on getting
the same kind of waiver that Ameren had received.
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Ameren got the original waiver after claiming financial hardship
that could force it to close some of its plants. Dynegy argued that
the same conditions would exist if it acquired the plants, including
lower electricity prices driven in part by competition from natural
gas-fired plants. It also said that Illinois' plants — which sell
power on the open market and can't pass on costs to customers — were
at a disadvantage to plants in other states because Illinois had
adopted stricter pollution regulations, while other states chose to
wait for stricter federal regulations that haven't taken effect yet.
The Pollution Control Board said the smallest and oldest of the
three operating units at the E.D. Edwards plant should be retired as
soon as possible. Any closures first must be approved by the
region's grid operator, the Carmel, Ind.-based not-for-profit
Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator.
That's because coal plants still are essential to keeping the lights
on in Illinois and elsewhere. They generate 48 percent of the power
sent to the electric grid in a 15-state region that includes
Illinois, MISO officials have said.
Despite the waiver, the future of coal-fired power is uncertain in
Illinois. Several Illinois plants have closed in recent years
because of high environmental costs and falling electricity prices,
and environmentalists say it's just a matter of time before they all
close.
"Given the recent track record of coal plants in the market, Dynegy
is going to have to come to terms at some point that these plants
are old, uneconomical and lack modern pollution controls," said
Armstrong, the ELPC attorney.
___
Online:
Illinois Pollution Control Board variance:
http://bit.ly/1bGjWut
[Associated
Press; TAMMY WEBBER]
Associated Press writer Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this
report. Follow Tammy Webber on Twitter at
https://twitter.com/twebber02. Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
