Sangamon Sun

City Water Light and Power (CWLP) chief utility engineer Doug Brown fears what could become of the downstate area if an agreement on an energy policy that includes a multimillion-dollar bailout for nuclear power plants has no chance of happening.

 “As you've been hearing, the proposed energy legislation has many detriments for utilities like ours as well as for many other municipal utility-owned operations and co-ops serving smaller communities throughout the state,” Brown said. “As you've heard our mayor say, we have already put Springfield on a path to a cleaner energy source. We shut down our oldest generators; we’ve made investments in wind and solar and will continue to do so.”

Brown concedes none of that figures to matter if lawmakers in Springfield don’t move to do the right thing now.

“We definitely don't need energy legislation that adds serious risk to the reliability and resiliency of the downstate electric grid and we don't need legislation for a cleaner energy future in Illinois when these proposals don't give the citizens any guarantee that they'll receive energy from a cleaner source than they have now,” he said.  “We want to make sure that our state leaders and our communities understand these issues. First, 2035 as a mandatory closure date for Dallman 4 is very problematic for Springfield. It's too fast; there's too much risk and the costs are too high for us to get replacement resources in time.”

Brown adds the uniqueness of the transmission system in Springfield almost makes it impossible for CWLP to simply shut down Dallman 4 and import all the power needed by the area.

“A replacement resource must be built in the Dallman footprint or we would be required to build major transmission and infrastructure upgrades to ensure we can deliver all the city power needs,” he said.

But even as the legislature approved Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $42 billion state budget, lawmakers recently left Springfield without an agreement on an energy policy that would include a multimillion-dollar bailout for nuclear power plants in the state.