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A lot of pieces will have to fall in place, but there’s still hope the Clinton nuclear power plant can stay open. The reality, however, is the plant is only part of the puzzle.
To recap: Two days after the Illinois General Assembly adjourned last spring without passing the “Next Generation Power Plan,” Exelon announced it will shut down the plant next June. With it would go about 700 good-paying jobs and a major part of DeWitt County’s property tax base.
Exelon says the facility has lost $450 million over the past seven years and that it needed assurances that losses would end as it competes on a power grid where demand has slackened, other renewable energy sources have grown and natural gas prices are low (though they’ve rebounded 38 percent this year).
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Exelon also says it will shutter another money-loser, its twin-reactor plant near the Quad Cities, in June of ’18. (It’s worth noting Exelon is in the process of buying a nuclear plant 12 years older than Clinton north of Syracuse, N.Y., after regulators approved subsidies to keep it open.)
Some people think it’s all a high-powered bluff. If it is, Exelon is playing out its hand at Clinton.
In June, it notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its “permanent cessation” plans. It has accelerated its depreciation for accounting purposes. A couple dozen Clinton staffers have taken jobs at other Exelon facilities. There’s an 18-person team planning the plant’s complex decommissioning. No fuel has been ordered to keep the plant running past June. The next shoe to drop would be Exelon formally notifying the Midcontinent Independent System Operator about plans to retire the plant.
MISO is the bulk power transmission system Clinton is connected to. It’s also the source of a study that found power supply reserves in a multi-state area could fall short beginning in 2018 if all plant shutdowns, including some coal-fired plants in southern Illinois, proceed.
Can you say “brownout?”
The glimmer of hope is from quiet negotiations underway involving revised legislation that could be presented at the General Assembly’s November veto session, or at an expected “lame duck” session in January. It would contain three broad elements: a guarantee that the red ink will stop at the two plants; incentives for developing wind and solar power; and a new rate plan for Commonwealth Edison, an Exelon subsidiary.
Power companies, consumer groups, environmentalists and renewable energy firms have inched forward toward a compromise, but the ComEd rate plan is groundbreaking, controversial and attracting new resistance.
It would replace the pay-for-what-you-use system in place since the late 1800s with “demand charges” — in essence basing residential bills largely on how much electricity is used during peak-demand parts of the day. This week, a group made up of Chicago aldermen and a Cook County commissioner told legislative leaders the plan would “make it impossible for consumers to control their electricity bills.”
The possible revised legislation has many moving parts and potential stumbling blocks, among them energy efficiency targets, maybe even a subsidy for some coal-fired plants. Safeguards designed to ease consumer concerns about the new ComEd rate structure, we’re told, are winning some support.
Meanwhile Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, is piecing together an alternative plan that would initially address only the Clinton issues, hoping that if all else fails, a narrowly-focused proposal could still have a heartbeat in Springfield.
A lot is at stake. Sen. Chapin Rose, the Mahomet Republican whose district includes DeWitt County, calls it “a 50-year decision.”
A large geographic area is “going to have to live with this for the next five decades,” he says. But with the Clinton plant hanging in the balance, he adds, “we’re the ones with a ticking time bomb over our heads.”
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Illinois American Water distributing grants to 70 fire departments
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ILLINOIS - Nearly six dozen fire departments throughout the state will receive a portion of a $48,000 grant from Illinois American Water. The money is being provided through Illinois American Water's 2016 Firefighter Grant Program. Funds will be used ...
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To promote this initiative ComEd has also partnered with several Chicago officials such as Illinois Commerce Commission Miguel ... I hope ComEd can greatly increase the number of Latino households which are aware of, and participating in, these beneficial ... via http://ift.tt/1GfhaxK
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Madison County Energy Board, along with other officials, meet last week with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Alec Messina to address issues affecting the county and its energy providers.
EDWARDSVILLE– Madison County officials last week met with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Alec Messina to address issues affecting the county and its energy providers.
“We appreciate the important, and occasionally difficult, role the IEPA has in protecting our environment and our citizens,” County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said in a press release. “We asked Director Messina to join us to discuss improving accessibility to IEPA officials and how we might expedite routine permitting issues that impact our businesses and, ultimately, our residents.”
State Sen. Bill Haine, who also attended the meeting, said that under Messina’s direction, the IEPA has shown significant improvement.
“Despite the lack of a state budget, which severely hampers the ability of the IEPA and other state agencies to serve the people of Illinois, Alec (Messina) has improved the IEPA operation,” he said. “I appreciate his willingness to meet with the advisory board members so the issues that exist can be resolved.”
During an open dialog with the members of the Energy Advisory Board, Messina agreed there is a need for improved communications.
“We (the IEPA) need to improve communications and we have been working on that,” he said. “At the same time, it is important that we know ahead of time what projects are on the drawing board so we can plan accordingly. I believe this would be beneficial to everyone.”
The IEPA is currently operating with a reduced staff, a fact Messina admitted.
However, Messina stated the agency has been working toward an expedited permitting process that will alleviate many of the issues cited by advisory board members.
The Madison County Energy Board is tasked to protect existing businesses and jobs in the energy sector. Dunstan said the county is working to assist businesses which refine, generate or distribute energy with the navigation of the myriad of laws and regulations affecting the industry.
Members of the Madison County Energy Advisory Board include: Melissa Erker (chairwoman), Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery; Jim Potje, Ameren Illinois; Andrew Jones, Southwestern Electric Cooperative; Don Vichitvongsa, SunCoke Energy; Bradley Ross, Abengoa Bioenergy; Courtney Breckenridge, NCERC at SIUE; Matt Schrimpf, HWRT Oil Co., LLC; Kevin Conner, Linde LLC; and Dan Cook, City of Highland Light & Power.
Madison County Energy Board, along with other officials, meet last week with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Alec Messina to address issues affecting the county and its energy providers.
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Lincoln's new cannabis ordinance- what you need to know
Lincoln Courier
On September 19, Lincoln City Council amended city code sections pertaining to the possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia within city limits. The changes were prompted by the decriminalization of cannabis at the state level for those possessing ...
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ILLINOIS NEWS NETWORK
Consumers are now becoming more particular with the treatment, cultivation and origins of their food.
This is most apparent as many fast-food giants and grocery chains — such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Kroger and Panera Bread — are pledging their commitment to only buy, sell and use cage-free eggs, catering to a market that is shifting toward conscientious consumption.
This shift has placed pressure on egg farmers in Illinois to produce cage-free eggs. The farmers are trying to meet these demands, Rebecca Clark of the Illinois Department of Agriculture said.
“Farmers are adapting the best they can,” Clark told Illinois News Network. “For many, there is an extra cost associated with this trend, i.e., buying more real estate, bigger barns, etc.”
“Cage-free” refers to a method of housing for the hens. Traditionally, hens were confined and constricted to small, claustrophobic cages where they could not stand or walk. In contrast, cage-free farms allow the hens the freedom of movement.
For some farmers, the cost of transitioning to cage-free can be costly. Costs may include building new barns or reconfiguring old barn structures to be cage-free, purchasing land, and hiring more workers to observe and maintain safety and cleanliness.
Other problems with cage-free include maintaining order, disposal of waste and pollution. These new expenses could significantly increase costs for farmers.
However, while the cost of maintaining cage-free eggs may be expensive and demanding to some farmers, others, such as Jill Rendleman, owner and manager of All Seasons Farm in Cobden, hold the opposite view.
Rendleman transitioned to cage-free and pasture-raised eggs nearly 20 years ago and does not regret the transition, finding it to be less-expensive than expected.
“Since I have started raising them outside, (the chickens) are a lot healthier,” Rendleman said. “I don’t have as much medical costs or bills. I don’t have to feed my chickens antibiotics, and that reduces my costs.”
Rendleman said her chickens are happier and that the mortality rate is not as high as when she raised them in a cage, where the chickens will crowd each other and be smothered or overheat.
Rendleman also feeds the chickens less because the chickens will feed outside on insects and worms, reducing her feed costs. All in all, she found the costs of raising cage-free chickens to be low.
“It is less expensive to raise hens on pastures than to build an expensive building and buy all these hormones and drugs that you have to give your chickens that are inside a building,” Rendleman said.
Rendleman said she believes it is great that consumers are more aware of their food and how it is produced. Despite the pressure of the market and struggles some farmers face, Rendleman said the results of cage-free eggs produce a better product.
“History is beginning to show that confinement chickens, confinement cattle and/or confinement hogs do not produce a good healthy product,” Rendleman said.
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LINCOLN — Lincoln Mayor Marty Neitzel feels a responsibility to protect her city, and on Wednesday she got a hint of what it might be like if disaster, like the tornado that hit Washington in 2013, were to strike. via http://ift.tt/KKIQTe
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The corn and soybean harvests are well underway in Illinois with federal agriculture officials saying farmers are making "rapid progress." The U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly Illinois crop report says the corn harvest is 43 ... via http://ift.tt/1gqpIUU
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Think back to the last time you interviewed for a job, had the baby sitter cancel, or made an emergency preparedness plan for your family. What would you do if you couldn’t access a telephone? I cannot imagine what I would do.
As President of the nonprofit board that advises the ICC on implementation of the Lifeline and Link Up programs, I want to let your readers know that these programs exist to help Illinois residents who cannot afford a telephone. The federally-funded Lifeline program offers a partial subsidy on the monthly cost of one landline or cell phone per household. In addition to the federal program, Illinois has a program, Link Up, to help with the cost of installing a landline phone.
Illinois residents are eligible if their income is 135 percent or less of federal poverty guidelines. Many can demonstrate their income eligibility through proxy programs like SNAP. For more information, visit the website at http://ift.tt/1s3g5DO.
If you are eligible for the program, enrolling is as easy as calling your local telephone service provider or a cell phone company and asking to be enrolled in Lifeline.
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By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang
Donald Trump may describe the nation’s energy policy as a “disaster,” but not everyone in Illinois would agree.
With the most nuclear power plants in the nation, and as one of the top five coal-produced states, Illinois is pressing ahead as well for clean energy jobs and industries.
The state’s clean energy legislation in 2007 led the way, setting up the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) and a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which led to programs and incentives for utility customers.
And since last year, Illinois has witnessed another attempt at clean energy policy – the Clean Jobs Bill in the state legislature. Despite the bill’s problems in the legislature, its supporters are hopeful.
The bill took center stage in the wake of Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which is a broader national effort to address the climate change by requiring states to develop strategies for slashing existing power plants’ CO2 emissions. The effort has run into political and legal challenges deferring a decision until next year.
The Clean Jobs Bill’s goal is to impose more ambitious goals on renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, according to the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition’s website.
In addition, it wants more revenue invested in clean energy, workforce development, and low-income bill assistance. It also proposes the creation of 32,000 jobs by 2030.
Indeed, job growth has been possible in Illinois.
Illinois was already home to 104,449 clean energy jobs in 2014, which was more than its accounting and real estate industries combined, and represents an increase of 7,574 jobs or 7.8 percent in just 15 months, the Clean Energy Trust’s report said.
Last year, Illinois continued to lead the Midwest in total clean jobs, having nearly 114,000 clean energy jobs, topping the 12 states in the region, the Clean Energy Trust’s 2016 report showed.
Energy efficiency accounted for two-thirds of those clean energy jobs, while the remaining third came from the renewable energy industry in jobs like bioenergy, solar power, wind power and geothermal energy, as well as in other sectors such as transportation.
“I know everybody wants to talk about renewables, but energy efficiency is the cheapest way to get energy, and it provides a lot of jobs,” said Jennifer Walling, the executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.
“And with energy efficiency, you have to have the job here,” she said.
Cleans jobs often translate into local jobs because the work is so labor intensive, she explained. “So that’s something very important to business,” she added.
An example of how this effort creates jobs is Minnich Insulation Inc. in Mokena.
A contractor specializing in weatherization projects, Minnich has shifted its focus to energy efficiency upgrades in affordable housing units throughout the Chicago area. The change has earned the company more projects, and allowed it to hire more employees, said company president Joe Minnich.
His employees not only enjoy health benefits without paying a dime, Minnich said, but also receive higher paychecks as his company has undertaken several funded energy efficiency projects that require prevailing wages.
“There are good paying jobs when everything is out there in place,” he said, celebrating that the energy efficiency incentives from the city, state and federal that have helped his business.
What’s more, there’s an emotional payoff, he said.
“People …. were crying when we left,” Minnich said, describing clients at a home without insulations that his company worked on last month.
“The buildings we’ve been doing lately, these people just really really need it, and they are very very thankful,” he said, adding that “they are gonna see increasing savings and comforts from the get-go.”
Insulation is an important part of increasing a building’s energy efficiency. (Photos credit: Elevate Energy)
Air sealing is one of the common works performed in energy efficiency projects. (Photos credit: Elevate Energy)
Many energy efficiency projects require technicians who can increase boilers’ efficiency. (Photos credit: Elevate Energy)
However, the clean energy effort is not without problems in Illinois.
Last year, both the energy efficiency program and the ratepayer rebate program for installing renewable energy went either unfunded or without enough money due to the state’s financial deadlock.
The money is collected from ratepayers on their utility bills, which is supposed to be used for projects under the EEPS fund and the Renewable Energy Resources Trust Fund, but it was used for general funding for the state. That is the case even though the ratepayer rebate program has been extended to 2020.
As for the energy efficiency programs, the funding has resumed temporally because of the stopgap budget that lifted the state’s financial crisis.
The lack of rebates and incentives has caused many small businesses and the state’s development of renewable energy to suffer, say industry officials. Illinois lost 10.8 percent of its wind jobs and 3.4 percent of its solar jobs between 2014 and 2015 for lack of funding, according to the Clean Energy Trust’s report.
Anne McKibbin, the policy director for the Elevate Energy, a major organization that provides energy efficiency services in Chicago, doubts that much can change without a new policy. “I don’t think they [the clean energy jobs] are going to grow significantly without new policy.”
Even though it has bipartisan support, the Clean Jobs Bill was not put up for vote during the last legislature session while talks continued among groups such as Exelon Corp., Commonwealth Edison Co. and environmental organizations.
Exelon and ComEd have their own version of energy legislation, which compete for state financial resources and seek to revise state energy standards.
Exelon, as one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, has been public about its two endangered nuclear plants in Illinois, and introduced a Senate bill to avert those nuclear plants’ closure, according to the Illinois General Assembly’s website.
“So they would like some assistances to avoid that [closure],” said Representative Elaine Nekritz (D), a chief sponsor of the Clean Jobs Bill.
As for ComEd, it supports a House bill that calls for Illinois to continue encouraging electric utilities to modernize their services. The company’s proposed rate design changes have been criticized for increasing customers’ electricity bills when they adopt renewable energy sources.
“I think that we will see a package in Springfield, that’s not just for renewable energy and energy efficiency but other energy interests as well,” Walling said, adding that her organization will only support a bill that prioritizes clean energy.
“The budget issue is so overarching, and what that means for everything else we do is really hard for me to predict,” Nekritz, said. “At some point, I’m optimistic,” Nekritz added, saying that Illinois needs to update its energy policy and everybody recognizes that. “I believe something will move.”
Walling is also hopeful about the Clean Jobs Bill. “Because there are jobs there, there is economic development could take place in this country.”
Photo at top: Clean energy like solar has taken center stage in Illinois’ energy policy. (Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang/MEDILL)
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — New numbers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources show that the number of people applying for the state's first legal bobcat hunt was 13 times more than the number of available permits.
The Southern Illinoisan reported that nearly 6,500 hunters applied for 500 permits.
The recipients will be chosen through a lottery in about two weeks and notified by mail. Permits can't be transferred to other people once they're awarded.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law last year allowing bobcat hunting after the department determined the current population of about 5,000 bobcats is stable. The animal was removed from the state's threatened species list in 1999.
"The recovery of the bobcat population in Illinois is a conservation success story for everyone," Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris Young said previously. "Management of bobcats through a regulated hunting and trapping season is the next step in its long-term conservation."
Animal welfare groups opposed the plan because they argue the hunting could harm the still-recovering population.
Illinois Bobcat Conservation encouraged their members to apply for permits to keep them away from those who would use them to hunt or trap bobcats.
"I decided to enter the lottery for a hunting permit because I felt that was the only way for me to exercise my right to continue to oppose this legislation," stated Illinois Bobcat Conservation founder Jen Kuroda in an email.
Spokesman Harmon said he will decide during the General Assembly's fall veto session if he will move the bill or wait for a future opportunity.
"I'm committed to revisiting the issue," Harmon said Monday.
Each of the 500 permit holders will be allowed to take one bobcat, either by hunting, trapping or salvaging roadkill, during the season, which runs from Nov. 10 to Jan. 31.
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Board of Education CEO Forrest Claypool discuss the possible teachers strike Thursday September 29, 2016. via http://ift.tt/1doHCIR
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The Illinois General Assembly can make our state a leader in clean energy. As a progressive leader in Springfield, I know that policy that supports energy efficiency programs encourages economic development and keeps homes in our neighborhood affordable. That means adding new jobs to our communities and putting savings back into consumers' pockets. With the proper policies, we can generate thousands of jobs statewide for people of various skillsets. One study showed that a [...] via http://ift.tt/1PkwOMH
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The Southern
Halloween in Southern Illinois: The business of the holiday bodes well in region
The Southern
“About four years ago, my wife and I were watching 'Making Monsters' on the Travel Channel, and the idea of going our own haunted house came up.” He told Amy that if she gave him the green light, he would take it forward without delay. Long story short ...
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Last month was one of the warmest Septembers on record in Illinois. State climatologist Jim Angel says September's average temperature was nearly 71 degrees, or 4.5 degrees above normal. State records go back to 1895. September of ... via http://ift.tt/1hk5Ao8
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Springfield - After a serious injury, often times, patients are prescribed powerful pain medicines to help.
But for some, there is no escape from the pain of an injury of years of service in the military, from the pain of muscular sclerosis, or the aftermath of a terrible car crash.
For these people, prescription medicine only offered temporary relief, and often times, lead to addiction.
"I'm almost 60 years old, and diagnosed when I was 17. So for this many years, they had me on opiates and destroyed my bowel and a lot of other things happened," said Kyla, a 60 year-old MS patient from Springfield.
Jon Gilson, of Rochester, was paralyzed after a car crash, added, "when I was taking them, I really didn't have a whole lot of energy."
"I really wasn't getting any benefit from it anymore after I had been on them so long," said Jeff, a fellow patient at Springfield's HCI Alternatives.
For these three people, medical marijuana has become the medicine of choice to help with the pain, and make it through the day, with the injuries and diseases that are a part of their lives.
HCI Alternatives is a medical marijuana dispensary in Springfield, and on Monday, they began an awareness campaign to help prescription opiate users, and educate Illinois doctors about the benefits of medical marijuana.
"The state of Illinois introduced this program to be able to work on providing patients, like these, with the ability to have an alternate source of pain medication as well as pain management. We want to provide that as an alternative as well as to provide the education to not only patients, but as well as doctors through our campaign that we started today," added Chris Stone, HCI Alternatives CEO.
For these patients, after using medical marijuana, there's no going back to opiates.
"The opiates, the Vicodin, and the Oxycodone, and the morphine, I won't take that anymore. So I'll just be screaming and getting on everybody's nerves if I didn't have that," added Kyla.
Some of the conditions that are able to be treated with medical marijuana include cancer, HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis C, Chrohns disease, Alzheimer's, Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, torette syndrome, as well as others.
PTSD, seizures, and terminally ill patients were recently added to that list.
For a complete list of conditions covered, click here.
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GIRARD - State Representative Avery Bourne (R-Raymond) joined the Citizens Utility Board in hosting a Utility Cost Savings Clinic this week.
The informative event was held at the Girard Village Hall and offered individuals assistance in analyzing their telecom, gas, and electric bills to save money.
Seated are (l-r) a CUB representative, Rep. Bourne, and attendee-Mr. Gary Bettis of Girard.”
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