Illinois has mined coal longer than it has been a state. As energy needs and technologies change and evolve, coal’s role has also shifted. Starting in the 1990s, there has been a significant decline in coal, and the 2021 Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act mandates the closure of all coal-fired plants and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.
The coal transition
As energy needs and technologies change and evolve, coal’s role has also shifted. Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, CEJA, in 2021 to create clean energy goals and create a roadmap for the state’s clean energy future. As part of this, CEJA mandates the closure of all coal-fired plants and 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. Many coal plants were already closing though. In 2010 and into 2021, before CEJA passed, 18 Illinois coal plants announced plans to cease operations.
Legislation like CEJA acknowledges that, due to economic pressures, the coal industry is in decline. It creates programs to help support communities facing this energy transition. One of these is the Energy Transition Community Grant Program which provides funding to communities impacted by fossil fuel plant or coal mine closures.
CEJA also created programs to grow a clean energy career workforce. This includes 13 workforce hubs spread across the state, a pre-apprenticeship program, and an energy transition navigator program to help connect individuals with workforce development programs.
It also includes a displaced energy worker bill of rights, which mandates how the state responds to displaced workers. This requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to:
- Provide maximum (as much as possible) advance notice to workers when a power plant or coal mine is slated to close
- Prove information on state energy transition programs, including the IL Dislocated Worker and Rapid Response programs
- Provide information and consultation on job training, re-employment services, career counseling, entrepreneurial training, etc.
- Financial planning services
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Extension supports communities in transition
In 2023, Illinois Extension completed an environmental justice needs assessment, which investigated the effects of the coal transition in Illinois and how to support community-led efforts. This assessment involved interviewing governmental agencies, planning commissions, community-based organizations, and community and economic development Extension staff.
Illinois Extension has partnered with the Climate Jobs Institute to support a project investigating the effects of coal-plant closure on communities. This project includes interviewing community members, conducting fieldwork, and investigating energy transition policies to help understand how to better support transition communities to increase economic redevelopment and preserve cultural heritage.
Illinois Coal History
Illinois has mined coal longer than it has been a state. The coal mine viewer map by the Illinois State Geological Survey shows mine sites across the state. Coal was first mined by settlers in 1810, and by 1870, coal towns were established as coal companies set up operations around the state. Illinois has the largest reserve of recoverable bituminous thermal coal east of the Mississippi River.
At coal’s peak, 76 of 102 counties had coal mines with over 7,400 mines in the state. Illinois coal production peaked in the 1920s and again in the 1980s. This industry has shaped many towns and counties, evidenced by place names such as Carbon Hill, Carbondale, Coal City, and Glen Carbon.
In the 1950s, the U.S. natural gas infrastructure expanded along with oil production. Starting in the 1990s, there has been a significant decline in coal, due to several factors:
- Federal clean air regulations, like the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990, target sulfur dioxide emissions
- Since Illinois coal is high in sulfur, this made it less competitive as utilities shifted toward lower-sulfur coal from the West, or moved to natural gas and renewable energy
- Increase in alternative energy sources: cheap natural gas, abundant nuclear, and newly competitive wind and solar.