ILLINOIS PUBLIC POWER NEWSLETTER #4
June 25, 2024
Welcome back to Illinois’ Public Power Newsletter, and welcome also to the new friends we’ve met over the last few months. For our new readers, this newsletter is prepared by a coalition of volunteer public power customers, consumer advocates, and environmental organizations and will share information about Illinois’ publicly-owned utilities, including municipal electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives. If you would like information shared in future newsletters, please email Scott Allen: sallen@citizensutilityboard.org
You can find past versions of the newsletter here.
FACEBOOK PAGE
A reminder that we have a Facebook page “Putting the Public Back in Public Power” facebook page, and we welcome the public to share information, and connect with one another here!
BIG NEWS OUT OF NAPERVILLE
Following a May 26 article from the Chicago Tribune, Naperville’s City Council, at its June 4 meeting, made a clear statement regarding contract renewal with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA): hold up! Councilwoman Jennifer Bruzan Taylor said “I have not heard a legitimate reason yet why this contract [with IMEA] needs to be signed or reviewed this year.” Next, Councilwoman Allison Longenbaugh expressed concerns about IMEA’s tactics asking “why is IMEA dictating the timeline here? Why are they driving the bus? We should be the ones driving the bus because we’re the ones who need to renew the contract and yet we’re giving them the keys, and I have a problem with that.” You can watch the full debate here.
Council was asked to approve two ordinances which would provide funding to pay consultants to help Naperville find options to replace IMEA, if that is what council chooses to do. IMEA would still be an option for the city, but not on the timeline the Agency was forcing. While such consultation is an important step for the city, council members made it clear that they’re not opposed to exploring options, but they are concerned about the pressure IMEA is exerting to get members to renew contracts more than 10 years before the current contract expires.
IMEA has said publicly that there is a legitimate need for early contract renewals. In order to build and/or procure renewable energy, the Agency needs to know how many members they will serve far into the future, and in order to get the best pricing and financing available, they need a commitment from members soon. However, IMEA has not engaged in proper, industry-standard Integrated Resource Planning; they have not committed to adhering to this standard practice prior to making such important and costly decisions, and they have rejected the idea of members of the rate paying public participating in such a process.
Leaders from the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force say that they were happy to hear council members express concerns about IMEA, and they hope that council will now take the lead in determining what options Naperville has for the future. NEST Chair Cathy Clarkin and Co-Chair Ted Bourlard said “IMEA needs to commit to transparency over and above the IRP process. They need to show the residents of Naperville how they intend to transition from coal. We also believe that our lawmakers should guarantee these protections by passing House Bill 5021 and Senate Bill 3637.”
As for next steps in Naperville, NEST said that they intend to keep working with the city council and utility staff to educate and advocate for clean energy to replace the City’s current 78% coal supply portfolio. They are eager to slow down IMEA’s pressure to get a contract renewal, and reasonably work through the process of learning how to find a more sustainable option in case that IMEA won’t commit to any of the residents’ requests.
As always, NEST encourages other IMEA member-residents to reach out to them via their contact form. They’re always happy to talk to peers from across the state, and find opportunities to work together.
For more information related to this, see the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s analysis of the May 26 Chicago Tribune article, see the Naperville Sun’s follow-up article to the June 4 City Council vote.
Several individuals who are part of this public power campaign have also written letters to the editor following the Tribune coverage of IMEA and Prairie State. If you would like to submit your own letter to a local newspaper, feel free to reach out to municoop@lists.ilenviro.org for questions or assistance.
RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE SCORECARDS
The Rural Energy Cooperative Scorecard Initiative (RECSI) was recently created to track the organizational progress of rural electric cooperatives (rural co-ops) in Illinois and the greater Midwest. Rural co-ops are not-for-profit organizations composed of voting member-ratepayers. Our energy sector is at a crossroads and rural co-ops have a unique opportunity to lead the clean energy revolution. Unfortunately, long term contracts with coal and ties to the coal industry have limited the true democratic nature of rural co-ops.
The RECSI initiative is supported by Citizens Utility Board Illinois, Green Neighbor Challenge of Wisconsin, North Dakota Native Vote, and Prairie Rivers Network. The group has successfully created a scorecard methodology and scoring rubric. Rural co-ops will be scored on their fuel mix stressing renewables, governance issues such as how to vote or run for the co-op board, and member services such as energy efficiency and community solar programs. You can check out similar scorecard initiatives that have been conducted in Minnesota and the Southeast. The new Midwest scorecards will serve as a tool for co-op member-owners, co-op leadership, advocates, and policy makers to help gauge transparency and democratic governance.
KAY’S CORNER
Pam Richart and Lan Richart – Eco-Justice Collaborative
Pam Richart, Co-Director, Eco-Justice Collaborative, was a key leader in the effort to pass the Safety and Aid for the Environment in Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act (SB1289) in the Illinois legislature this May. This is the most important act to come from this legislative session for environmentalists.
I sat down with Pam to learn how she became a leader in the fight against carbon capture sequestration and pipeline transportation, but I was also curious to hear about how she and Lan built Eco-Justice Collaborative.
Although the act was fast-tracked at the end of session, it took years in the brewing. Pam’s work with the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines and the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition spawned a movement that led to legislation. Pam eagerly cites the names of “on-the ground” activists Joyce Blumenshine, Joyce Harant, and Tracy Fox; experts like Rick Stuckey, landowners and farmers, including Kathy Campbell, Karen Brockelsby, and Steve Hess; and bill drafters and negotiators Jenny Cassel, Christine Nannicelli, and Elaine Nekritz. All were key to the success of this bill. Networks, coordination, transparency and, at times, conflict resolution, contributed to what seemed like an overnight achievement.
The road to the Governor’s desk began in 2023 with a proposed moratorium on CO2 pipelines prepared by the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines. That did not get traction. In January 2023, Pam worked with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC) and Jenny Cassel, Earthjustice, to prepare a comprehensive and protective CCS bill (HB 3119 and SB 3441). That bill got a subject matter hearing, culminating with meetings hosted by the Governor’s office with industry, the ICJC, and state agencies. The process stretched into spring of 2024 when both industry and the ICJC introduced new bills. Pam and others from across the state hosted a lobby day in Springfield in support of the updated ICJC Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Protections Act (HB5814 and SB3920).
Then in April Governor Pritzker asked the parties to hash out legislation he could sign by the end of May. Thus, the Act was put on the fast track, with negotiations brokered by the Governor’s office.
How did Pam and Lan become involved with this legislation?
Pam and her husband Lan co founded Planning Resources, Inc., a land use and environmental firm in the 1980’s. Pam directed land use studies, socio economic studies, and historic and cultural resources for highways and rail projects like the High Speed rail from Chicago to St. Louis.
Their work and travel led them to focus on environmental justice. Their trip to Colombia in 2001 with Witness for Peace led them to integrate justice, climate, and economics, with their environmental work. They sold Planning Resources, Inc. and formed the Eco-Justice collaborative in 2008. EJC advocates for sustainability, a just distribution of resources, the reduction of greenhouse gasses, and the preservation, restoration, and expansion of carbon sinks.
In 2012, Pam became involved in the Heartland Coal Field Alliance and she and Lan now live in Champaign.
How does the SAFE CCS Act affect those of us linked to Prairie State Coal?
Prairie State Coal will have to obtain a carbon capture permit that will prevent them from emitting additional harmful pollutants, like NOx, SOx, and particulate matter. They must also document its water use and the impact of that water use on available water sources; currently estimated to use a daily equivalent to the water consumed daily in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Prairie State will then need to obtain a certificate of authority from the ICC for any CO2 pipeline it needs to transport the carbon captured to a storage site. That will require public engagement and an emergency response plan that confirms first responders can, in the event of a pipeline leak or rupture, rescue people along a pipeline route before they succumb to the toxic effects of CO2 (which can include death).
Prairie State will need a carbon sequestration permit. The SAFE CCS Act goes beyond Class VI regulations with respect to the type of monitoring required. It assures post closure monitoring will take place for at least 30 years.
Insurance, financial assurances, and a long-term trust fund keep liability with owners of the coal plant, and not the state.
Upfront funding required for pipelines and emergency preparedness and sequestration will be expensive and long-term. My hope is the owners of Prairie State realize that converting to renewable energy is better than running this fossil fuel plant.
Where do you find energy to keep going?
I work 70 hours a week. Lan keeps reminding me of that. But as long as there are great risks to public health, our land, and our water from false climate solutions like CCS, I keep going. I don’t do this alone. Our Coalition to Stop CO2 pipelines includes landowners, farmers, and activists who continue to be on the front lines, organizing for protections and to stop approvals of CO2 pipelines before the ICC and soon, sequestration projects under review by the U.S. EPA.
This work remains critical, in the absence of PHMSA (Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) rulemaking, safe setbacks and protection of our drinking water.
This bill is a strong start. We didn’t get everything we needed. Our team has included a focus on protecting the Mahomet Aquifer, the sole source aquifer for nearly 1 million people in central Illinois.
Private companies plan to inject CO2 through the aquifer/ its recharge areas and store CO2 beneath it. There is no guarantee that CO2 will remain permanently stored, and if it leaks, CO2 will release arsenic and other toxic metals, contaminating this sole source aquifer.
To sum it up, Organizers and ordinary people have come together to make this new legislation possible. Pam and Lan especially coordinated the efforts of many to help protect those of us downstate who will experience the greatest impacts from capture, transport, and storage of CO2.
Many thanks to all involved.
Kay Ahaus
