Six months after a poorly executed implosion at the former Crawford coal plant, community activists are escalating the demand for answers with billboards calling out the developer, Hilco Redevelopment Partners (Hilco), about continued lack of transparency and cooperation. Since May, the City of Chicago has only hosted one community meeting, with no professional Spanish interpretation, while Hilco has hosted a single meeting only after a mandate from the City. The environmental disaster at the Crawford site blanketed Little Village in a toxic dust cloud and both Hilco and City officials have failed to provide adequate information on the dangers residents may have been exposed to. Hilco is working to redevelop the coal plant site into a truck depot for retail giant Target.
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This morning Alliant Energy announced that by the end of 2022, the utility plans to retire the last 275 MW power generating unit at its Lansing coal plant near Lansing, Iowa, and will invest in 400 MW of solar generation by the end of 2023, and up to 100 MW of distributed energy resources, like community solar or storage resources, by 2026. The Lansing plant emitted over 250,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide in 2019 and carbon emissions equivalent to over 100,000 cars. The announcement is part of Alliant’s Clean Energy Blueprint, the company’s “path for accelerating their transition to cleaner energy for customers.” In addition to providing advance notice about retirement, Alliant pledged to provide career assistance and coaching to help prepare workers to transition into other jobs.
On Thursday, October 29 at 10:00 AM, the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin will host an online event remembering the shoreline bluff collapse at We Energies’ coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek which released devastating pollution (coal ash, earth, trucks, and other debris) into Lake Michigan on Halloween 2011. We Energies was implicated in the catastrophe and additional environmental regulation violations were discovered during the response to the collapse. This Halloween will be the 9 year anniversary of the incident and the event will feature speakers who remember the collapse and will also talk about ongoing pollution from the plant that continues to impact neighbors and area residents today.
Austin, TX - The Texas Commission on Environmental Policy (TCEQ) commissioners approved an “Agreed Enforcement Order” with Xcel Energy, the owner of the Harrington Coal Plant, for violations of air quality standards that are putting the health of nearby residents at risk. Under the terms of the enforcement agreement, which were never subject to meaningful public input, the coal plant owner agreed to end its use of dirty coal and convert the plant to run on gas by January 1, 2025.
FERC approved PJM’s compliance filing for the Minimum Office Price Rule (MOPR) today, moving forward with the disastrous rule that will block most new renewable energy resources from the PJM capacity market.
Today, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler finalized another rollback of clean water protections, which will allow utilities to keep dumping enormous quantities of toxic coal ash into unlined, leaking, and structurally unsound coal ash ponds -- putting tens of thousands of families at risk.
OUC announced today that they would stop burning coal for power by 2027 and would get 92% of their energy from renewable sources by 2050
Advocates and concerned residents testified today before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) to raise serious objections to the proposed rate increases filed by Madison Gas and Electric (MGE). MGE’s request proposes to perpetuate and expand regressive utility rates the Walker administration approved that undermine conservation, charge lower use customers higher bills, and pose a specific harm to low income customers. The Walker-era rates are among the worst of the worst nationally in setting the amount of every bill that is “fixed”--meaning customers cannot control their bill or reduce their charges by using less energy.
Denver, CO -- This morning, community leaders and elected officials met virtually to deliver a Letter of Principles to Xcel Energy regarding its upcoming Electric Resource Plan (ERP), a process for long-term energy planning. The letter is signed by over 4,000 Xcel ratepayers and Pueblo residents, as well as over 80 elected officials across Colorado who get their electricity from Xcel and want to see the state’s largest utility transition more quickly away from polluting coal and gas plants and toward clean energy.
Puget Sound Energy’s proposed sale of its ownership share of a Montana coal plant would likely increase climate pollution, raise monthly costs for PSE customers and handicap the utility’s ability to invest in clean energy in the coming years.
Thursday morning, clean energy advocates, community members, and elected officials will deliver a signed Letter of Principles to Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, regarding their upcoming Electric Resource Plan that will determine which resources are used to generate electricity moving forward. The letter is signed by 4,000 Xcel electricity customers and Pueblo residents, as well as 70 elected officials from Xcel’s service territory.
Today, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler finalized another rollback allowing industrial polluters to skirt the Clean Air Act to release more dangerous pollution into vulnerable communities and chip away at the effectiveness of one of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws.