By Drew Zimmerman 

May 12, 2016 - Downstate lawmakers are pushing legislation to revive Illinois' struggling coal industry.

Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, introduced a bill on Tuesday to create incentives to cleanly burn coal. The proposal is an effort to keep the coal industry as an energy-policy player in Illinois.

“We know the desperate situation of the Dynegy fossil fuel plants currently within the state of Illinois, we know the dire situation with the Exelon and ComEd nuclear plants in northern Illinois, and we believe that Illinois coal is part of the overall energy discussion,” Bradley said at a press event at the Capitol.

Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said preserving the coal industry has bipartisan support.

“In the district that (Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond) and I represent, a question all the time is that we have a power plant down the road, but we can’t burn coal that comes from the mine the other direction that’s a stone’s throw away, and that’s something that’s plagued our state for years,” Manar said. “This legislation is going to help solve that problem, and it will raise employment and help out communities that have been struggling for years.”

Senate Bill 1562 would authorize the Illinois Commerce Commission to find a way to fund “scrubbers," which reduce the sulfuric content of exhaust from coal-fired generators like the ones at City Water, Light and Power. Bradley said that many of these power plants are in jeopardy of closing.

“We believe the statistics and the evidence show that if we scrub coal, Illinois' is the best, it burns the hottest, and it’s the cleanest,” Bradley added.

The bill would also require Illinois utilities to have purchasing agreements with clean-burning facilities.

“Illinois ... is currently a net exporter of energy, and we want to make sure that everybody understands that coal is a major part of that energy production,” said Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville. “We want to make sure that Illinois remains a net exporter, which means we create more than we need.”

Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, said that while he supports a comprehensive plan for Illinois that includes renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power, they are intermittent. Therefore, he said, there should be an increase in the amount of energy derived from reliable coal.

Kristin Igusky, spokeswoman for the World Resources Institute, a global research organization dealing with climate-related issues, said cleaner-burning coal in Illinois could potentially help the state meet standards set by the Clean Power Plan, a federal policy to combat climate change.

However, a report from the institute advises that Illinois should also use existing natural-gas plants and develop renewable energy resources to reduce the dependency on coal.

Bradley said he is not opposed to developing other energy sources, but that coal should be part of the discussion in terms of how the state can have a comprehensive energy plan with good-paying jobs.