Burning Coal, Burning Cash

In 2008, Illinois imported 94 percent of the coal used in its power plants, resulting in a net expenditure of $683 million. The document highlights that Midwest Generation and the Baldwin Energy Complex are major contributors to this import dependency. To mitigate these costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the report advocates for the state's energy efficiency resource standard and its renewable energy goals, noting that Illinois has the technical potential to generate over five times its 2008 electricity needs from renewable sources, primarily wind and bioenergy.

• In 2008, Illinois imported 94 percent of the coal burned in its power plants, sending $1.49 billion out of state, primarily to Wyoming. After accounting for $806 million in coal exports to other states, the state's net expenditure on imported coal was $683 million.
• Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison Mission Energy, was the largest importer of coal in the state, spending $512 million. The Baldwin Energy Complex in Randolph County is identified as the most import-dependent facility in Illinois, spending $209 million in 2008 and ranking as the thirtieth-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions among coal plants nationwide.
• Illinois has established a renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to supply 25 percent of the state's power from renewable resources by 2025. The state has the technical capacity to generate more than five times its 2008 electricity needs from renewables, specifically wind and bioenergy.
• Since 2007, Illinois has installed over 1,700 megawatts of wind energy capacity. An example is the 102-megawatt Top Crop wind facility in LaSalle County, which began operations in 2009 and provides enough energy for more than 30,000 homes.
• The state has adopted an energy efficiency resource standard requiring utilities to achieve annual electricity demand cuts that increase to 2 percent by 2015. This follows a period in 2007 where ratepayer-funded efficiency spending was only six cents per person.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2010). Burning Coal, Burning Cash. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/UCS-BCBC-factsheet-Illinois.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Burning Coal, Burning Cash. 2010. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/UCS-BCBC-factsheet-Illinois.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Burning Coal, Burning Cash |date=May 2010 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/UCS-BCBC-factsheet-Illinois.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2010burning, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Burning Coal, Burning Cash}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/UCS-BCBC-factsheet-Illinois.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }