Vistra and environmentalists disagree on whether the utility’s coal plants are needed for reliability.
Last spring, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club released a report that found retiring eight of the utilities coal plants in the Midcontinent ISO (MISO) Zone 4 could save ratepayers $14 billion without impacting reliability. But the utility maintains the coal plants are necessary.
“There are many challenges to operating power plants in Illinois, from longstanding and unresolved capacity market design flaws to delays in regulatory updates and other economic pressures,” Curt Morgan, president and CEO of Vistra and its Illinois subsidiaries, said in a statement.
The legislation establishes a “reasonable and achievable path” to transition existing coal plants to renewable resources, he said.
Through its subsidiaries, Vistra has nearly 5,500 MW of capacity that accounts for 40% of MISO Zone 4’s summer capacity. The company says 75% of its capacity in the region is at risk of closing by the end of this year “due to a number of factors.”
But environmental groups oppose the legislation for a variety of reasons, according to J.C. Kibbey, a clean energy advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“The way it’s being marketed is pretty misleading,” he told Utility Dive. “It’s lipstick on a pig. Vistra uses the word ‘transition’ over and over again, I think hoping people wont notice this is a coal bailout.”
The report last year, issued with the Sierra Club, concluded energy supply in southern and central Illinois would be secure, “even with the closure of these plants,” he said.
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