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1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, Illinois has been a leader in energy production
3		within the United States, in large part due to Illinois' vast
4		coal resources; and
5		WHEREAS, Illinois has the largest recoverable bituminous
6		coal reserves in the United States, a reserve base larger than
7		all but 6 countries in the world, and the ability to produce
8		all of America's electricity needs for 100 years or Illinois'
9		power needs for 600 years at current consumption rates; and
10		WHEREAS, Illinois is the largest electricity exporter in
11		the Midwest and one of the largest in the United States, and
12		nearly 45% of Illinois' energy comes from coal-burning plants
13		within the State; and
14		WHEREAS, Historically, the cost of electricity from coal
15		has been the most economical on the basis of dollars per
16		megawatt hour produced and price fluctuations for coal have
17		been much less than any other fuel source; and
18		WHEREAS, Coal power plants in the United States have met
19		the environmental challenges of the past 4 decades while
20		meeting the low-cost energy needs of the nation, as coal used
21		for electricity in the United States has increased by 165%

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1		since 1970 while key emission rates have declined by 90%; and
2		WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry is currently
3		responsible for over $2,500,000,000 in annual economic
4		activity within the State, including employing roughly 5,000
5		miners with an average salary of $85,000 a year, higher than
6		both the United States and Illinois median household incomes;
7		and
8		WHEREAS, The Illinois coal industry has faced increased
9		environmental regulations in the last 2 decades that resulted
10		in coal production going from 62 million tons of mined coal in
11		1990 to a low of 31 million tons in 2003 and a loss of 6,500
12		direct jobs during this time period; and
13		WHEREAS, The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 imposed
14		strict sulfur dioxide (S02) emission standards, making coal
15		mined in Illinois unusable without flue gas desulfurization
16		(FGD) equipment, often referred to as "scrubbers"; and
17		WHEREAS, Technology can be deployed that allows
18		high-sulfur Illinois coal to be burned efficiently while
19		meeting strict State and federal air emission standards;
20		specifically the State of Illinois should be encouraging the
21		retrofitting and use of advanced clean coal technologies such
22		as flue gas desulfurization, wet electro-static precipitators

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1		(wet ESPs), and oxy-combustion; and
2		WHEREAS, All of the power plants in Illinois which now burn
3		Wyoming coal were originally designed for Illinois coal and the
4		choice of technology was driven in part by the lack of
5		certainty regarding the recovery of investments in wet
6		scrubbers; and
7		WHEREAS, It is costing Illinois consumers more than
8		$1,000,000,000 annually to import coal from other states,
9		primarily from Wyoming, while Illinois coal is being exported
10		and used in other states in power plants with scrubbers; and
11		WHEREAS, Using Illinois coal within Illinois would lead to
12		substantial economic benefits by saving $1,000,000,000 in
13		transportation costs and creating thousands of new jobs in
14		mining and ancillary industries in currently economically
15		depressed counties in central and southern Illinois and it
16		would create more State and local tax revenue; and
17		WHEREAS, Using Illinois coal within Illinois benefits the
18		environment as well as the economy by reducing C02 emissions
19		through the use of higher rank coals and by reducing rail
20		traffic by 50,000,000,000 ton-miles annually; and
21		WHEREAS, The recent growth in Illinois coal production has

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1		been due to considerable new investment in the Illinois coal
2		fields producing low cost coal and the retrofit of pollution
3		control technology in power plants throughout the United States
4		in response to changes in the Clean Air Act mandating reduced
5		air emissions; and
6		WHEREAS, The switch to Illinois coal will improve the
7		competitiveness of Illinois power generation as Illinois coal
8		has a lower delivered cost, stable pricing, and higher heat
9		content; once retrofitted with advanced technology, Illinois
10		power plants fired with Illinois coal should be more
11		competitive in electricity markets, thereby helping to insure
12		the continued generation of competitive power for both in-state
13		customers and the out-of-state electricity market; and
14		WHEREAS, Much of the State of Illinois overlays the Mount
15		Simon Sandstone, a saline filled, porous, deep geological
16		formation of enormous capacity that has been determined to be
17		one of the most significant carbon resources in the United
18		States and its development could result in expanded use of
19		Illinois coal in a carbon-constrained world; and
20		WHEREAS, It is vital that Illinois coal be considered part
21		of an "All of the Above" approach to energy production in order
22		to keep Illinois as a leader in energy production, job
23		creation, economic growth, and environmental protection;

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1		therefore, be it
2		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3		NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4		urge the Illinois Commerce Commission prepare a report on the
5		cost and efficiency benefits of using Illinois coal at Illinois
6		coal-burning plants, including any legislative impediments and
7		the impact on residential and commercial ratepayer; and be it
8		further
9		RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Power Agency to prepare
10		a report on the effect that burning Illinois coal has on
11		reliability and capacity for the Midwest region and the
12		mechanisms that could be utilized to provide cost recovery of
13		incremental environmental investments to generators switching
14		to Illinois coal; and be it further
15		RESOLVED, That we urge the Department of Commerce and
16		Economic Opportunity prepare a report on the economic benefits
17		and job creation potential from switching to Illinois coal and
18		the result of more coal production; and be it further
19		RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Environmental
20		Protection Agency prepare a report on the environmental impact
21		(including reduced C02 emissions) of burning Illinois coal with
22		the use of flue gas desulfurization equipment, reduced rail

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1		travel and associated C02 emission reductions, more efficient
2		energy production as a result of Illinois coal's high energy
3		density and the potential for the development of the carbon
4		storage capacity of the Mount Simon Sandstone and the impact of
5		bringing Illinois air emission standards in line with those of
6		the federal government; and be it further
7		RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Department of Revenue
8		to prepare a report on the impact on State and local taxes from
9		Illinois power plants switching to Illinois coal; and be it
10		further
11		RESOLVED, That we urge the findings of those reports be
12		presented to the General Assembly and the Governor by October
13		1, 2015 for consideration and appropriate action; and be it
14		further
15		RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16		delivered to Governor Bruce Rauner, the Illinois Congressional
17		Delegation, and all the members of the General Assembly.