By Greg Bishop

September 19, 2017 - Not many coal-fired power plants in Illinois use coal mined in the state, but a new task force is studying ways to increase the use of home-mined coal in Illinois.

The problem is federal emissions regulations require desulfurization when burning coal. That means power plants that want to use Illinois’ sulfur-rich coal have to get expensive scrubbers added to the process, which Illinois Coal Association President Phil Gonet said could cost as much as half a billion dollars.

Republican state Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, said she sees a problem of Illinois power plants not burning Illinois coal in her district.

“There’s a coal-fired plant in Coffeen, and you can see the coal mine from the power plant,” Bourne said, “and yet we’re not burning Illinois coal in that power plant.”

Bourne sponsored a bill that created the task force to look for real solutions.

“It can be a controversial issue,” Bourne said, “and so having a task force that’s bipartisan and will have membership from across the state and from different agencies I think will really make sure that the facts are out there.”

House Bill 3656 was signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner earlier this month and creates The Flue Gas Desulfurization, or FGD, Task Force to “identify and evaluate the costs, benefits, and barriers of new and modified FGD, or other post-combustion sulfur dioxide emission control technologies, and other capital improvements, that would be necessary for generation units to comply with the sulfur dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards.”

Gonet said one problem is in other states, power plants have ways to get the money for scrubbers.

“They go to the regulatory body and get a rate increase,” Gonet said, “and that’s used to pay for the scrubber.”

Gonet said Illinois’ deregulated energy market may have to change.

“We’ve enjoyed the deregulation and the competition, which brings lower rates,” Gonet said, “but at some point you run out of electricity if the plants are rolled or have to retire.”

In Illinois’ deregulated market, Gonet said individual power plants have to compete with subsidized energy like nuclear or wind.

Gonet said the idea to have some kind of state intervention in support of Illinois coal has been years in the making, with former lawmakers taking the lead. Previous ideas included having $500 million in state grants available for power plants in Illinois, but Gonet said there was never a way to pay for it so it never went anywhere. Bourne took the lead this year with the task force creation and got it passed.

Gonet said he’s happy the task force has been created, but said it’s not going to solve all the problems.

Bourne said her measure is meant to find the right policies to create more economic activity for Illinois’ coal industry.

The task force will be made of two members each appointed by the Senate President and the House Speaker, two members each appointed by minority leaders in the Senate and House, three members appointed by the governor, and the directors of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency. Task force members won’t be compensated but will be reimbursed for travel.

A report from the task force is expected to the General Assembly by the end of the year.