Council approves resolution supporting CWLP’s impending retirement of three coal-fired units – Feb 5, 2020
Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
It was a debate years in the making. But, when it came time Tuesday evening to debate a resolution endorsing the retirements of three of City Water, Light and Power’s four coal-fired units, it took just minutes for the Springfield City Council to make their decision.
Council members voted unanimously to support the nonbinding resolution, which supports CWLP’s recommendation that Dallman Units 31, 32 and 33 be retired in favor of purchasing additional power from other sources, such as Read the rest of this entry »
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Resolution supporting retirement of three coal-fired CWLP plants emerges – Jan 21, 2020
Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
A resolution supporting the retirements of City Water, Light and Power’s three oldest coal-fired power plants has emerged and is expected to be debated at two meetings next week.
Under the terms, Dallman Units 31 and 32 — the oldest and least productive — would be shut down no later than Dec. 31. Dallman Unit 33, which represents about 32 percent of the utility’s total net generation, would be retired no later than Feb. 28, 2022. Dallman Unit 4, the utility’s newest plant, is expected to remain open.
Such an outcome would largely mirror the recommendations CWLP received Read the rest of this entry »
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City Council approves CWLP coal contract – Dec 17, 2019
Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
Despite some aldermen hoping to slow the process down, the Springfield City Council voted Tuesday to approve extending City Water, Light and Power’s coal contract with longtime provider Arch Coal Sales Company through 2025.
Under the proposed terms, coal prices would be reduced from the current rate of $35.90 per ton to $35.75 per ton in 2021, which would be followed with an annual increase of 1.5 percent, topping out at $37.94 per ton in 2025. Arch-owned Viper Mine, near Williamsville, has supplied the city’s coal since 1983.
CWLP was not seeking a change in supplier and thus did not put out a request-for-proposal. However, it Read the rest of this entry »
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City council approves new insurance plan for CWLP – Jul 12, 2019
Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
With insurance for City Water, Light and Power properties set to expire this weekend, the Springfield City Council approved a new coverage plan at a special meeting Thursday.
The ordinance pays up to $2.1 million to R.W. Troxell and Co. to insure 40 CWLP properties, including Dallman Power Plant Units 31, 32, 33 and Unit 4. With it, the city narrowly avoided a lapse in coverage.
The urgent situation caught city council members off guard, with many saying it was first brought to their attention at Tuesday’s regular city council meeting. The ordinance was ultimately approved with an 8-0 vote on Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
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City council to hold special meeting to prevent lapse in CWLP property insurance – Jul 10, 2019
Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register
With insurance for City Water, Light and Power properties set to expire this weekend, the Springfield City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday evening to approve a new contract and thus prevent a lapse in coverage.
The proposed ordinance would authorize payment of up to $2.1 million to R.W. Troxell and Co. to insure 40 CWLP properties, including Dallman Power Plant Units 31, 32, 33 and Unit 4.
Under the proposed arrangement, several insurance companies will split coverage, with STARR Companies and AIG covering the majority, 43 and 35 percent, respectively. But Read the rest of this entry »
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Consultant: CWLP should request renewable energy proposals – Dec 18, 2018
Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
A nonprofit corporation recommends City Water, Light and Power should ask for proposals for solar and wind contracts. The Energy Authority, which works with 58 utility companies throughout the United States, was hired by the city to work on a 20-year integrated resource plan for the utility to see what energy resources CWLP should invest in and which ones it should retire.
In updating council members during their Tuesday meeting, TEA presented Read the rest of this entry »
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U of I scientists pitch $40M carbon capture project for CWLP – Dec 10, 2018
Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
A research center with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is looking for support from the Springfield City Council on a $40 million pilot project that would retrofit City Water, Light and Power’s newest power plant to capture carbon dioxide.
Kevin O’Brien, director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, presented their proposal to council members during Monday’s Utilities Committee meeting. The project would study whether the method of capturing carbon dioxide from CWLP’s emissions is effective and cost-efficient.
If chosen, the project, Read the rest of this entry »
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Alderman: Company studying CWLP’s future presents ‘conflict of interest’ – May 8, 2018
Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
For years, the city has talked about making a long-term plan for City Water, Light and Power, which would include studying when to retire its older coal-fired units and what other energy resources would take their place. The city is on the cusp of awarding the study to nonprofit corporation, The Energy Authority, but an alderman Tuesday said the contract should have gone out for bid and worried TEA presented a “conflict of interest,” since it is also the city’s agent in buying and selling electricity off the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, known as the transmission grid.
“I feel like we’ve pushed The Energy Authority from day one, and I just feel like it’s wrong,” Ward 10 Ald. Ralph Hanauer said.
TEA is financed by public power companies that generate energy through all different kinds of resources, including coal, like CWLP. If approved for the $210,000 contract, TEA would have six months to study CWLP and how the utility should move forward for the next 20 years. It would look at the utility’s economic forecast, while also weighing the cost of complying with environmental regulations and keeping up with renewable energy requirements.
The question of when CWLP’s power generators will be retired has been discussed for years. Dallman Power Station units 31, 32, and 33 are all older than 40 years and aldermen frequently pass ordinances to make emergency repairs. TEA’s integrated resource plan will include a recommendation to the mayor and the city council, which will decide which direction the city wants to go.
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Is it time to retire CWLP’s old power generators? – Apr 28, 2018
Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
Three of City Water, Light and Power’s older coal-fired plants don’t meet the standards set in a recent report from Moody’s Investors Service on what’s considered “economical” for operation. That report is further evidence that CWLP ought to more more quickly to retire those plants, says the Sierra Club.
The city, however, says that keeping Dallman 31, 32 and 33 online gives it more flexibility that ultimately keeps its costs down. The debate over the plants’ efficiency comes as the city moves forward with a long-term study about the future of those units.
Moody’s Investors Service, which rates CWLP’s electric and water bonds, released a report this month in which it declared coal plants to be economical if they had a capacity factor, or the ratio of actual output over time, above 50 percent and a production cost lower than Read the rest of this entry »
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Williamsville, Sherman ask for new water rates from CWLP – April 20, 2018
Crystal Thomas
The State Journal-Register
The Williamsville-Sherman Water Commission has reached out to ask for a water rate cut from City Water, Light and Power, according to Mayor Jim Langfelder and Williamsville village president Tom Yokley.
The news of negotiations comes on the heels of CWLP offering Rochester a 28 percent reduction in its rate. Rochester village officials were considering leaving CWLP and joining a seven-community co-op fronted by EJ Water. Instead on Tuesday, village trustees accepted an offer by CWLP to extend its contract for five more years and accepted a rate that was 28 percent less. The contract still needs approval from the Springfield City Council, some of whom were upset by the process.
Williamsville-Sherman has the same wholesale rate of $4.814 per unit (784 gallons) as Rochester. Rochester’s rate will be changed to $3.47 per unit, which is the same as CWLP’s Outside City rate, pending Springfield city council approval.
While Rochester uses about an average of 250,000 gallons per day, Williamsville-Sherman uses about 460,000 gallons per day on average, according to CWLP officials.
“CWLP has not started negotiations with Williamsville-Sherman on their water contract,” Doug Brown, CWLP chief utility engineer, said in a statement. “However, President Yokley reached out to Mayor Langfelder to inquire about Rochester’s offer.”
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City council approves maintenance work at CWLP plant – Oct 17, 2017
The State Journal-Register
John Reynolds
The Springfield City Council approved a plan Tuesday to spend more than $3 million in maintenance work for its two oldest coal-fired power generators, Dallman 31 and 32. Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said the work is a high priority.
Dallman 31, built in 1968, is City Water, Light and Power’s oldest functional power plant. Dallman 32 went online in 1972. The city also has two newer power plants, Dallman 33 and Dallman 4. Read the rest of this entry »
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Sierra Club says coal plant costs CWLP customers – Sept. 18, 2017
The State Journal Register
Tim Landis
City Water, Light & Power at some point will have to retire older coal power plants as maintenance costs rise and markets shift to other forms of energy.
Agreement ended there on Tuesday after the Sierra Club released a study claiming loses at Dallman power station totaling $251.3 million from 2008 to 2016. Residential customers paid an extra $215 for CWLP power in 2016 and commercial customers an added $2,307, according to the report, compared with costs on wholesale power markets.
“Every year since 2008, CWLP would have been better off not to operate Dallman, but would have been better off buying power from the wholesale market,” report author Thomas Vitolo of Synapse Energy & Economics said in a phone press conference on the report.
Vitolo said the figures were based on public financial reports and customer costs estimates were based on the price of CWLP power compared with the cost of purchasing electricity in competitive, wholesale markets.
The cost of maintaining the power plant, including compliance with tougher federal clean-air standards, can no longer be justified, according to the Sierra Club, which released a similar report in 2015. The oldest of four units, Dallman 1, was constructed in 1968 and the newest, Dallman 4, went online in 2009, according to a CWLP history of the station.
Vitolo estimated the cost of shutting down the station at $10 million to $20 million, adding that he was not suggesting the city get out of the power generation business.
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Springfield aldermen approve tax incentives for proposed power plant – Sept. 5, 2017
State Journal-Register
Jason Nevel
A deal to provide tax incentives for a Houston-based company to build a $1 billion natural gas power plant near Pawnee got the green light Tuesday from the Springfield City Council.
Tuesday’s vote brought out the largest crowd a security guard said he’s ever witnessed for a council meeting.
Around 300 union members, many from Laborers Local 477, who wore their orange shirts and held signs reading, “Let’s Build This Community” and “Opportunity,” filled the council chamber and hallway.
Tuesday’s vote, which passed 9-1, was for the council to extend the boundaries of the Springfield/Sangamon County Enterprise Zone.
Representatives of EmberClear Corp. say the incentives are essential to constructing the 1,110-megawatt-capacity plant near Pawnee. The Sangamon County Board OK’d the property zoning and sales tax breaks in May. Read the rest of this entry »
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Pawnee power plant plan takes another step forward – Aug. 29, 2017
State Journal-Register
John Reynolds
A deal to provide tax incentives for a Houston-based company to build a $1 billion natural gas power plant near Pawnee took another step forward Tuesday.
Springfield City Council members decided that a proposal to extend the boundaries of the Springfield/Sangamon County Enterprise Zone to accommodate the plant will appear on the agenda at Tuesday’s city council meeting. The decision came after council members heard from supporters who said the plant would generate jobs and detractors who said the plant would adversely affect the quality of life in Pawnee.
“We currently enjoy the peace and quiet the south part of Pawnee provides,” said Pawnee resident Michelle Young. “Our backyard often has deer and turkey roaming the creek. Pawnee has been a great place to raise a family, but many residents are feeling threatened that this could all completely change with the addition of a power plant. Please consider how you would feel if this were proposed so close to your home.”
Brad Schaive, business manager for Laborers Local 477, told aldermen that the plant offers unprecedented opportunities.
“I don’t see a lot of hiring at the state. I don’t see a lot of hiring in the medical industry currently. I see a lot of boarded-up businesses,” he said.
The city council is one of several governmental entities that must sign off on tax incentives for the EmberClear Corp. project. Representatives of the company say the incentives are essential to constructing the 1,110-megawatt-capacity plant. The Sangamon County Board OK’d the property zoning and sales tax breaks in May.
A study commissioned by the city of Springfield and completed by The Energy Authority Inc. indicated that the EmberClear plant could result in nearly $20 million in lost profit to CWLP over the next 20 years.
Earlier this summer Mayor Jim Langfelder’s administration started working on a deal with EmberClear that the mayor said would lessen any negative impact on the city.
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Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 