Springfield IL City Council Votes to Retire Three Coal Units at the City’s Dallman Power Plant

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- Today, the Springfield City Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution recommending the retirement of the three oldest coal units at City Water, Light & Power’s Dallman coal plant.  The resolution supports retiring Units 31 and 32 by December 31, 2020 and Unit 33 by September 15, 2023.  

“Experts agreed that CWLP is losing money and will only continue to do so as the coal market continues its decline. For years, constituents have urged council members to make a thoughtful plan for retiring these old and dirty units. Tonight they listened. Now it’s time for CWLP to make a fair plan with the unions representing Dallman’s workforce to find the best path forward for them and their families. The City of Springfield is not a corporation, our leaders can and should do right by Springfield residents, our environment, and the CWLP workforce,” said Elizabeth Scrafford, Sierra Club Organizing Manager. 

The resolution was introduced by Mayor Jim Langfelder last month.  It was discussed extensively at a City Council meeting and a public forum last week, where a majority of testifiers supported retiring the coal units.  

“CWLP’s coal stacks sit near the East-Side of Springfield and have been harming the community surrounding it for years, including people of color who live in Ward Two. The Springfield Branch of the NAACP began working on issues at CWLP years ago, including asking for more public process, addressing coal ash issues, and working to see these old and harmful plants retired. Tonight our city's leadership took a step in the right direction, which will result in lower pollution levels  and health impacts for all of Springfield, but especially for people of color,” said Teresa Haley, President, Springfield Branch and Illinois State Conference of NAACP.

The resolution implements recommendations of a long-term plan, called an “Integrated Resource Plan,” commissioned by CWLP and released in May, 2019.  CWLP has subsequently studied the economics of the Dallman plant more closely and concluded that keeping the three oldest units online would cost Springfield more than $200 million over the next five years, which would result in rate increases. 

"Retiring these units is a major step forward for Springfield from the fossil burning past to a clean energy future, but we still need to clean up the polluting coal ash. Taking these units offline will halt their waste stream of coal ash heading to Springrfield's leaking and unlined ash ponds, but it won't stop the damage from decades of coal ash still in the ponds, which are polluting groundwater above water quality safe standards,"  said Andrew Rehn, Water Resources Engineer, Prairie Rivers Network.

Springfield residents, environmental and social justice groups have spent years advocating CWLP to reduce its contribution to local pollution, including self-reported groundwater contamination caused by Dallman’s leaking coal ash ponds, as well as the plant’s contribution to the climate crisis.  Residents and advocacy groups have also long supported a fair and just transition plan for the workers affected by these retirements. The resolution includes support for such a transition plan.   

Between 2013 and last May’s Integrated Resource Plan, there have been five analyses commissioned by CWLP, Sierra Club or the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, each of which has found the oldest units at Dallman to be uneconomic, losing hundreds of millions of dollars, and costing ratepayers between hundreds and thousands of dollars each year when compared to market energy prices.  The resolution includes support for a rate study to look at rate reductions and infrastructure improvements at CWLP.  

Dallman Unit 31 (90 MW) began operation in 1968, Unit 32 (90 MW) began operation in 1972 and Unit 33 (207 MW) began operation in 1978. This brings the total capacity at Dallman to be retired to 387 MW.  Dallman Unit 4 (230 MW) began operation in 2009. CWLP’s Integrated Resource Plan recommended re-visiting the economics of Unit 4 in the next long-range plan in 2 - 3 years.