Soot to Solar

The report argues that accelerating the retirement of coal plants in Illinois in favor of clean energy technologies will improve public health, reduce carbon emissions, and lower electricity bills without compromising grid reliability.

• The Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) is projected to significantly expand Illinois' clean energy capacity by 2030, adding 1,300 MW of new wind and 3,406 MW of new solar capacity above the pre-FEJA baseline. Total installed renewable energy capacity is expected to exceed 8,890 MW by 2030 if FEJA is successfully implemented.
• Accelerating coal plant retirements would lead to substantial reductions in carbon and air pollutants. By 2030, carbon emissions could be 33% lower than 2016 levels in a scenario retiring the Waukegan and Edwards plants, and 51% lower in a scenario retiring eight Dynegy-Vistra plants. These scenarios would reduce CO2 emissions by 141 million to 156 million tons compared to a pre-FEJA baseline.
• Early retirement of coal plants offers significant public health gains by avoiding premature deaths and respiratory illnesses. Retiring the Waukegan and Edwards plants before 2030 would avoid 431 premature deaths and 124 cardiovascular and respiratory hospital admissions. Retiring six Dynegy-Vistra units would avoid nearly 1,000 premature deaths and 592 heart attacks.
• Transitioning to clean energy is economically beneficial for consumers and the state. FEJA is expected to drive $3.4 billion in capital investments and $1.3 billion in energy efficiency improvements. Additionally, coal retirement scenarios could save typical households between $93 and $102 annually on electricity bills by 2030.
• The closure of the Waukegan coal plant would not negatively impact electricity reliability. The plant's generation can be replaced by a combination of solar, energy storage, and energy efficiency, or by spreading the load across other plants in the 13 states served by the PJM grid operator.
• Investing in solar and energy storage at the Waukegan site is financially viable. A utility-scale 16 MW lithium-ion battery system with an initial cost of $14.3 million would yield a net benefit of $4.8 million over 25 years. Furthermore, combining solar and energy efficiency could reduce annual electricity bills for Waukegan households by 66%.

APA

Collingsworth, J., Clemmer, S., Garcia, P., Gignac, J., Kibbey, J., Sattler, S., & Baek, Y. (2018). Soot to Solar. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/10/soot-solar-executive-summary.pdf

Chicago

Collingsworth, Jessica, Steve Clemmer, Paula Garcia, James Gignac, JC Kibbey, Sandra Sattler, and Youngsun Baek. Soot to Solar. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2018. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/10/soot-solar-executive-summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Collingsworth |first1=Jessica |last2=Clemmer |first2=Steve |last3=Garcia |first3=Paula |last4=Gignac |first4=James |last5=Kibbey |first5=JC |last6=Sattler |first6=Sandra |last7=Baek |first7=Youngsun |title=Soot to Solar |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2018 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/10/soot-solar-executive-summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{collingsworth2018soot, author = {Collingsworth, Jessica and Clemmer, Steve and Garcia, Paula and Gignac, James and Kibbey, JC and Sattler, Sandra and Baek, Youngsun}, title = {{Soot to Solar}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2018}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2018/10/soot-solar-executive-summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }