Below is a curation of Vistra Corp.’s announcements about its Illinois power plant sites. Vistra has been transparent with its workers, plant communities, and regulators about changes at its Illinois fleet and has diligently managed economic, market, and regulatory factors to guide plant retirements and redevelopment opportunities.
Announcements by Date
April 9, 2018 — Vistra completes its merger with Dynegy Inc., bringing Dynegy’s Illinois generation fleet and its subsidiaries, including Dynegy Midwest Generation, LLC, under Vistra ownership. The transaction transferred plants that were still operating, as well as retired Illinois plant sites. Read the release.
March 26, 2019 — Vistra announces support for a legislative plan focused on encouraging the development of new utility-scale solar generation and utility-scale energy storage at current, retired, or to-be-retired coal power plants across Illinois. The proposal encouraged using existing plant properties — land already owned and zoned for power generation, served by transmission, and at a point of interconnection to the grid — rather than developing new sites. This approach became the basis of the legislation enacted by the General Assembly two years later. Read the release.
August 21, 2019 — The Illinois Pollution Control Board’s revised Multi-Pollutant Standard rule required Vistra to reduce emissions across its downstate fleet. Rather than retiring the fleet entirely, the company announces the closure of four plants: Coffeen in Montgomery County, Duck Creek in Fulton County, Havana in Mason County and Hennepin in Putnam County. The Coffeen plant site has been redeveloped with utility-scale solar and energy storage that became operational in 2024. Read the release.
September 16, 2019 — Vistra announces the planned closure of the Edwards Power Plant in Peoria County through a settlement agreement. The agreement and retirement announcement resolved litigation brought by environmental groups and established a retirement date of year-end 2022. Read the release.
September 29, 2020 — In response to evolving regulatory, market and economic conditions, Vistra announces a company-wide strategic pivot. In addition to affirming previously announced retirements, the company establishes preliminary retirement dates for Baldwin in Randolph County and EEI/Joppa in Massac County by year-end 2025, and for Kincaid in Christian County and Newton in Jasper County by year-end 2027. The company noted that for each plant, closure could occur “sooner should economic or other conditions dictate.” Two of those dates have since moved: Joppa closed earlier, and Baldwin’s operations were extended. Read the release.
April 6, 2021 — To resolve a complaint concerning allegations predating Vistra’s ownership, the company entered a settlement that accelerated the closure of the EEI/Joppa Power Plant in Massac County to Sept. 1, 2022. This retirement was more than three years ahead of the year-end 2025 date announced the previous September. The Joppa plant site later became the interconnection point for Pulaski Solar, though the two are separate projects. Read the release.
September 13, 2021 — The Illinois General Assembly passes what is known as the Coal to Solar & Energy Storage Act as part of SB 2408. The framework applies only to existing coal power plant properties, which already carry transmission and a grid connection. Under the law, Vistra estimated it could build and operate up to 300 MW of utility-scale solar and 150 MW of battery energy storage at nine retired or to-be-retired coal plant sites. The projects still needed to move through diligence, permitting, and interconnection, while also remaining economically viable. Read the announcement.
September 15, 2021 — Governor J.B. Pritzker signs SB 2408, the Energy Transition Act, enacting the Coal to Solar & Energy Storage Initiative into law two days after passage. The measure created the first program of its kind in the nation for developing utility-scale solar and energy storage on coal plant properties. Read the release.
December 17, 2024 — Vistra connects the first two Coal to Solar projects to the grid: 68 MW of solar with 2 MW of storage at Baldwin in Randolph County, and 44 MW with 2 MW of storage at Coffeen in Montgomery County. Both were built on land the plants had owned for decades. The company also extended operations of the Baldwin Power Plant through 2027 in response to reliability concerns raised in the MISO market. Read the release.
Spring 2026 — Vistra completes a 52 MW solar project with 2 MW / 8 MWh of energy storage at the Newton Power Plant site in Jasper County — the third Coal to Solar project to reach commercial operation. As at Baldwin and Coffeen, the facility sits on property the plant has occupied for decades. The Newton plant continues to operate its traditional thermal generation.
Summer 2026 — Vistra completes Pulaski Solar, a 405 MW utility-scale solar project in Pulaski County and the largest solar facility the company has built. The project interconnects at the EEI/Joppa switchyard through an 8-mile transmission line built specifically for it, and was supported by a long-term commercial power purchase agreement and privately financed. The interconnection at EEI/Joppa is separate from additional redevelopment opportunities at the Joppa plant site.
Most recent entry: Summer 2026