Why This Site

New power generation needs three things: land, a connection to the grid, and transmission to move the power. Assembling them from scratch takes years. The Duck Creek plant site already has the land and the transmission, and an established point of interconnection to build from.
The Duck Creek Power Station has occupied this property in Fulton County for decades. The site carries established transmission equipment connecting it to the regional grid.
The Duck Creek Power Station has retired. Vistra announced the closure in August 2019, one of four Illinois plants retired to comply with the state’s revised Multi-Pollutant Standard rule governing emissions across the fleet. The generating station has since been demolished.
Placing new generation on ground like this reuses infrastructure that already exists instead of building it somewhere else from nothing.
The Duck Creek plant site, Fulton County, Illinois.

What Is Under Consideration

TechnologySolarUtility-scale solar generation.
Capacity under evaluation20MWSolar capacity being evaluated for the site.
CountyFultonFulton County, Illinois.
Project scope changes as development work proceeds, and no decision to construct has been made. Any project at the Duck Creek site would depend on market conditions, permitting, interconnection and other approvals.

What a Project Here Would Mean

Building a project at the Duck Creek site would deliver a one-time economic stimulus to Fulton County — capital investment at the site, wages for local trades, and spending through the local supply chain.
The figures below are what that was modeled to produce.
Capital investment$63MModeled investment at the plant site.
During construction33Jobs supported in Fulton County over the construction period.
Local earnings$2.4MEarnings for local workers during construction.
Local economic output$3.7MAdded economic activity in the county during construction.
Economic impact figures were modeled for Vistra by Dr. David G. Loomis, Strategic Economic Research, LLC.

This Has Been Done Four Times in Illinois So Far

Duck Creek is a proposal. The approach and the company behind it are not.
Baldwin68 MW of solar with energy storage in Randolph County, operating.
Newton52 MW of solar with energy storage in Jasper County, operating.
Coffeen44 MW of solar with energy storage in Montgomery County, operating.
Pulaski405 MW of solar in Pulaski County, complete and generating.
Vistra’s recent investments of more than $1 billion have added 570 MW of generation and 6 MW / 24 MWh of battery storage across Illinois.

Duck Creek Site at a Glance

Location17751 N Cilco Road, Canton, IL 61520
CountyFulton County, Illinois
Plant statusRetired 2019 under the state’s Multi-Pollutant Standard rule; plant demolished 2023
Identified opportunityUtility-scale solar
Capacity under evaluation20 MW
InterconnectionExisting plant interconnection and transmission

Questions About the Duck Creek Site

No. A utility-scale solar project has been under development for the site, but no decision to construct has been made. Energy projects of this size take years of diligence, engineering, permitting and interconnection work before anyone breaks ground.

Because a retired plant site does not start from zero. New energy assets need land, a connection to the grid and transmission to carry the power away, and assembling those three from scratch can take the better part of a decade. The Duck Creek plant site has the land and the transmission, and a project there would reuse some of the transmission and interconnection assets already in place. New substation work and, in almost all cases, a new point of interconnection are still required.

Yes, four times. Baldwin, Newton and Coffeen pair utility-scale solar with energy storage on existing plant property and are operating today. Pulaski Solar, a 405 MW facility in southern Illinois, reached commercial operation ahead of schedule.

Modeling for a redevelopment project at the Duck Creek site estimated 33 jobs supported in Fulton County during construction, $2.4 million in earnings for local workers and $3.7 million in added local economic output.

It has been demolished. The boiler building, turbine pedestal and both chimneys came down by controlled implosion in 2023. Illinois law requires advance public notice of a plant demolition, and those notices remain posted on the Duck Creek demolition page.

Clearing the Site

The Duck Creek generating station has been demolished. The boiler building, turbine pedestal and both chimneys were brought down by controlled implosion in 2023, and the work was carried out by Spirtas Wrecking Company under a general work plan filed with the State.
Illinois law requires advance public notice of a power plant demolition. Those notices, the implosion schedule and the contractor’s work plan remain posted: Duck Creek demolition public notice and the general work plan.
Clearing the structures leaves the property, its substation and its transmission connection available for what comes next.