July 25, 2016
The Journal News
…O’Keefe hopes to rally support for Senate Bill 2939, sponsored in the Illinois Senate by senators from Belleville, Carbondale and Champaign. Dynegy plants, or at least units in Baldwin, Wood River and Newton, have stopped producing power and laid off employees. O’Keefe’s theory is that the Coffeen plant is still producing only because of its stellar environmental record since scrubbers were installed. He also fears the plant won’t survive the next round of cuts unless the state senate bill passes.
Local officials are concerned because of the impact for people who hold jobs in the plant and the tax support the plant provides for the Hillsboro School District and Montgomery County. Whether it was known as CIPS, Ameren or Dynegy, the plant has been the major driving force of the local economy since its construction in the mid-1960s….