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ILLINOIS POWER PLANTS PUSHED TO THE BRINK
As a result of longstanding and unresolved capacity market design flaws, regulatory uncertainty, and economic pressures, the downstate electricity market is at a tipping point and drastic changes are imminent. As much as 75 percent of Vistra Energy’s subsidiaries’ electric generation capacity serving the MISO Zone 4 market is at risk of being shut down by the end of the year. The at-risk power plants produce nearly 5,500 megawatts and account for 40 percent of the available summer capacity in MISO Zone 4.
A REASONABLE AND RESPONSIBLE PLAN FORWARD
In addition to supporting the regulatory change pending before the Illinois Pollution Control Board, Vistra and its subsidiaries are supporting a new, comprehensive transition plan for downstate power plants over the next decade, the Illinois Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act of 2019. This visionary transition plan for downstate electricity generation benefits consumers, plant employees, and local communities. It substantially reinvests in Illinois’ downstate power plants to meet the state’s evolving energy goals and mandates by:
Redevelop Downstate Coal Facilities into Utility-Scale Solar And Battery Energy Storage
Meet Illinois’ Commitments to Emission Reductions and Paris Climate Agreement
Increase Grid Stability, Reliability And Renewable Resources Through Battery Energy Storage
Responsibly Retire Existing Downstate Coal Plants
THE ELEMENTS OF THE PLAN
The Illinois Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act of 2019 is a visionary and comprehensive transition plan for downstate generation that benefits consumers, plant employees and communities, and substantially reinvests in Illinois’ downstate power plants.
RESPONSIBLY RETIRING EXISTING DOWNSTATE COAL PLANTS
Vistra and plants at its Illinois subsidiaries account for nearly 5,500 MW of electricity capacity in the MISO Zone 4 market. This is approximately 40% of the overall available summer electric capacity in the market. But, due to longstanding factors, Vistra’s Illinois affiliates have determined as much as 75% of their total in-market electric capacity is at-risk of imminent closure. By keeping otherwise uneconomic plants online through 2024, this provides sufficient time for new renewables, transmission, and energy efficiency projects to materialize while also providing more stability for grid reliability and power prices.
PROVIDING AN ORDERLY TRANSITION PROCESS FOR ENERGY WORKERS AND PLANT COMMUNITIES

This new energy future will not come without a difficult transition for plant employees, their families and local communities. Energy workers and their families deserve an orderly retirement process with as much notice as possible.
While it is not economically feasible to continue to operate the entire downstate fleet, the transition plan will keep open power plants that are at risk of imminent closure through 2024. This will provide short-term certainty in the market and advance notice to workers, union officials, families and communities who will have to deal with the permanent loss of jobs.