Phil Gonet worked tirelessly behind the scenes to empower a new task force charged with studying ways to increase the use of coal in Illinois.
But Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association, knows the hard work is really just beginning.
“Right now, 85 percent of Illinois coal is sold and burned out of state because of the high sulfur content that causes it to burn at a higher rate than federal law allows,” Gonet told the SE Illinois News. “The coal of the task force is to examine ways that we might be able to make use of more of it.”
Phil Gonet
Gonet said one way that could happen is for power plants to invest in costly industry equipment known as scrubbers, but circumstances make that difficult.
“Here in Illinois, the energy market is deregulated, and that makes it difficult to add all the extra cost,” he said.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 3656 into law earlier this month, officially creating the Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Task Force, whose primary job is to “identify and evaluate the costs, benefits, and barriers of new and modified FGD, or other post-combustion sulfur dioxide emission control technologies.”
Rep. Dave Severin (R-Benton) is part of the bipartisan task force appointed by House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). Task force members won’t be compensated but will be reimbursed for travel.
While Gonet said he is trying hard not to have any preconceived ideas about what determinations he feels the task force should come to, he says the good it could lead to couldn’t come at a much more opportune time for the industry.
“From 1990, the year the Clean Air Act was amended, until 2003 the amount of coal produced here each year declined by half, and the number of workers also drastically fell,” he said. “Last year, production was back up a bit, but the industry could definitely still use a jolt.”
The task force will begin working immediately, and its findings and recommendations will be forwarded to the General Assembly.
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