Batavia saddled with dirty coal plant?

I am writing to strongly urge Batavia's City Council to request a state attorney general investigation of Prairie State Energy Campus.

In 2007, the City of Batavia signed a 30-year contract with Prairie State, making the city a de facto partial owner. 3.5 percent, of the Peabody coal plant in southern Illinois. Due to this contract, Batavia citizens are required to purchase electricity from this coal plant. The Prairie State contract promised a reliable supply of cheap, clean, and efficient energy; however, the construction of the Peabody coal plant went $1 billion over budget.

Consequently, the City of Batavia, bound by the Prairie State contract, must shoulder the cost of their part ownership through increased sales taxes and hiked electric rates. Additionally, the contract promised that the coal plant would reliably produce power 90 percent of the time, but it has fallen short of this standard, and Batavia citizens are effectively paying for more electricity than they are receiving.

Given that the expectations of this contract are far off from the current reality, it is likely that Prairie State representatives knowingly presented misinformation to city council when signing the Prairie State contract, which is why an attorney general investigation is crucial to unearth any fraudulent claims made.

I do not blame city council for signing the contract in the first place; however, it will be incredibly frustrating if an investigation is not pursued, as Batavia citizens will certainly be burdened with the excessive costs and liabilities of a dirty coal plant for the next 30 years otherwise.

Claire Zinser

Batavia