Prairie State Coal Plant Tracker

The Prairie State Energy Power Plant, near Marissa, Illinois. Photo by Robert Srenco at bob@screncoaerialph

MARCELINE, MO — ”From its railroad heritage to its connection to entertainment icon Walt Disney — who spent his early childhood here — tiny Marceline practically oozes nostalgia.

But there is one aspect of the city’s past that some people here would just as soon forget — a big bet on the Prairie State Energy Campus, a controversial coal-fired power plant in southwestern Illinois.

Marceline and its electric utility, with only three employees, agreed in 2004 to buy almost all of its electricity from Prairie State. But the plant’s price ballooned, and along with it the cost that the city is obligated to pay. Now, Marceline is on track to lose almost $1.4 million this year, City Manager Luke Lewis said.

Even for a larger city, a loss of that size would be tough to digest. But for a rural community that’s bleeding population, it’s a full-blown financial crisis. The loss equals more than $600 for each of the city’s 2,200 residents, and more red ink is forecast for years to come.”

— Jeffrey Tomich, St Louis Post-Dispatch

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CLEVELAND, OH — “A government probe into a $5 billion electric generating plant supplying power to Cleveland and cities across the Midwest is triggering concerns over future rate hikes.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed records related to the development of the Prairie State Energy Campus in southwestern Illinois.

The plant came under scrutiny following an exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation in July 2012 that revealed the $5 billion facility had failed to generate electricity for four full months while municipalities across the Midwest were paying millions on bond payments.

Our investigation also found a mechanical problem was blamed for shutting down the just opened plant.”

— Ron Regan, newsnet 5

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Illinois' Prairie State plant begins producing power at a time when economic factors are making power companies look to natural gas instead of coal for most new plants. (Tim Vizer/Belleville News-Democrat/MCT)

ST LOUIS, MO — “Peabody Energy Corp. said the Securities and Exchange Commission is probing the company’s role in the development of the $5 billion Prairie State power plant in southwestern Illinois.

St. Louis-based Peabody was served in January with a subpoena seeking information and documents related to the sprawling power plant and an adjacent mine about an hour southeast of St. Louis. The company disclosed it in its annual report filed with securities regulators on Tuesday.

…The Peabody subpoena represents the latest twist in the development of the 1,600-megawatt Prairie State plant — the largest new coal-fired power plant built in the United states in 30 years.”

— Jeffrey Tomich, St. Louis Post Dispatch

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NEW YORK, NY — “Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), the largest U.S. coal producer, said the Securities and Exchange Commission served it with a subpoena seeking information and documents relating to the development of the Prairie State power station.

Peabody is cooperating with the investigation and believes “pending or threatened proceedings” will be resolved without material impact on the company’s financial condition, it said in its annual report filed with the SEC today.

The Prairie State Energy Campus became operational last year. Peabody, based in St. Louis, owns 5.06 percent of the 1,600-megawatt, coal-fueled power plant in southern Illinois, the balance being owned by public power agencies.”

— Sonja Elmquist, Bloomberg News

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HOMER CITY, PA — “A July 2010 contract that the developers signed with Bechtel Corp. fixed the costs of the Prairie State project at $4.93 billion. According to the study, original developer and still co-owner Peabody Energy Corp. in 2004 made an initial estimate that the plant would cost $1.8 billion.

— Matthew Bandyk, SNL Energy

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The Prairie State Energy Campus under construction in 2010.

NEW YORK, NY — “But at least for the near term, the owners will be paying extra for electricity, according to a report produced at the behest of anti-coal groups. When the construction cost rose from the $4 billion estimate to what the opponents put at $4.9 billion, the price of electricity from the project, which includes the capital cost, went above the cost of electricity bought on the open market in the Midwest, according to the report, produced by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a nonprofit group in Belmont, Mass.

‘The Prairie State coal plant is turning out to be the financial and environmental nightmare that many of us feared when the plant was proposed,’ said Sandy Buchanan, executive director of Ohio Citizen Action. Mostly because of the low price of natural gas, a megawatt-hour of electricity in Ohio now wholesales for about $40, but power from the first unit of the plant, which went into service in June, costs about $60, the groups pointed out, and the customers face some additional charges because of a slight delay in getting the generators into service. The second half is due on line late this year.”

— Matthew L Wald, New York Times

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