Sample-pages

Project Structure and General Documents Peabody Energy Company found a way to make money from their high-sulfur coal reserves by developing plans to build a high-cost coal-fired power plant in Southern Illinois while transferring  virtually all of the financial and environmental risks to municipalities across the Midwest.  After initially developing the plans for the Prairie State coal plant in 2001, which included use of a Peabody-owned mine for the coal and a Peabody-owned landfill for coal ash disposal, Peabody, through its wholly owned subsidiary Lively Grove Energy, sold 95% of the ownership interest in the project to eight municipal power and generation and transmission agencies in Midwest states, including:

What’s the problem? Location of Prairie State coal plant. Peabody Energy Company transferred 95% of the financial risk of building the Prairie State Coal Plant in Southern Illinois to municipal ratepayers in hundreds of Midwest communities, who were promised a low-risk, steady source of electric power at below market rates. But the plant came in one billion dollars over budget and has had serious operational problems. The price of power from the plant has been approximately twice as expensive as the cost of wholesale power sold on the market, and some communities are already having to raise their electric rates.

About this website   Search for: Briefing book   Read the report