Coal Interests Press On

Staff Writer | Dec 20, 2011

 

If you happen to live in the Midwest, the country's most abundant source of energy may be right beneath your feet. With the United States having more than 25 percent of the world's coal reserves producing more than 50 percent of the country's power, coal is producing stable, low-cost, environmentally safe power for millions of American families.

A part of the new generation of coal, the newest coal-fueled power plant in the nation, Prairie State Energy Campus, is currently under construction in southern Illinois, in Washington County. Indiana Municipal Power Agency has invested on behalf of its owner-members in Prairie State Energy Campus and will be receiving power at the end of 2011. Eight of the Prairie State Energy Campus owners are public power utilities, like IMPA, that are operated by local governments to provide communities with reliable, responsive, not-for-profit electric service.


The state of Illinois's underground geography is 65 percent coal, representing 38 million metric tons. The energy from Illinois's coal supply is more than the fuel reserves in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined; and it produces nearly half of the state's electricity supply. 

Because of its high sulfur content, Illinois coal mining fell in production following the Clean Air Act restrictions of the early 1990s. Today, new technology and emission controls are providing options to use Illinois basin coal in the cleanest possible ways. Since 1970, emissions from coal-fueled power plants have been reduced by more than 80 percent while electrical output has almost tripled.


Prairie State Energy Campus is a mine-mouth energy complex with a 6.5 million tons-per-year coal mine located directly next to a supercritical, 1,600-megawatt power plant. Its owners and investors are eight public power utilities and Peabody Energy. The Prairie State owners will use its power to provide electricity for more than 2.5 million families in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia and West Virginia.

With more than $1 billion in emission controls, the Prairie State project will be the cleanest coal-fueled power plant in the nation. Without factoring in its state-of-the-art emission controls, its supercritical steam/electrical generating process is more efficient, allowing it to emit 15 percent less than a typical coal plant. Considering Prairie State's emissions controls, it will remove 98 percent of SO2, 90 percent of NOx and more than 99 percent of particulate matter, the most commonly tracked emissions.

Reliable Energy Source

In addition to being an abundant, safe and clean energy source, an additional advantage of coal is its low and stable cost of supply. According to the Energy Information Administration, coal costs around one-third to one-quarter of the price of other fuels such as natural gas, one of the primary substitutes for coal for meeting baseload electricity needs.

Of course, coal is now competing with abundant shale gas for market share at the nation’s utilities. But the coal industry says that it can do so, if regulators slow up their timetables with respect to pending clean air rules. 


As the nation climbs out of a recession, affordable electricity is especially important. Lower-cost electricity helps retain existing manufacturing industry in the region and also attracts new corporations to locate in the area, which will help improve the unemployment situation.

Although energy prices are going up in the rest of the nation, the Prairie State units coming on line with stable costs and environmentally responsible operations is a very positive sign for the economy. Since breaking ground in 2007, more than 4,000 construction personnel have been on-site, building the project. When construction is completed in 2012, Prairie State will employ more than 500 people on a full-time basis and will be one of the largest contributors to Washington County's tax base.

A study completed by the University of Illinois predicts that Prairie State will stimulate an additional 860 jobs and will inject an extra $80 million of earnings into the Illinois economy. With $1 billion invested in environmental emissions controls, the facility is the cleanest coal plant in the nation and represents the future of coal-fired energy.

Rajeshwar Rao is chairman of Indiana Municipal Power Agency. This story first appeared in EnergyBiz magazine.