Southern Illinois Power Cooperative

Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) was formed in 1963 to generate and distribute power. Annual revenues are $140 million and assets approach $500 million. SIPC owns and operates its own power supply, primarily coal-fired power plants and simple cycle combustion turbines for peaking, all of which are located near its headquarters in Marion, Illinois. In 2007, SIPC joined with other public power entities and began construction of Prairie State Energy Campus (PSEC), a mine mouth coal-fired power plant slated to begin operation in 2011.

Prairie State Energy Campus
In 2007, SIPC purchased an ownership share of the 1,600 MW mine-mouth coal-fired Prairie State Energy Campus currently under construction in Illinois. SIPC owns 7.9% of the project, which equates to approximately 125 MW of power once the plant is fully operational in 2012. PSGC unit 1 62.5MW in 2011 and PSGC unit 2 62.5MW in 2012. According to SIPC, mine owners, flush with new profits from coal exports, are starting to open new mines in SIPC’s service territories that will demand as much as 50 MW per mine. SIPC and the other owners of the Prairie State plant will use their own coal from Minemouth instead of buying coal in the market.

Response to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009
In June 2009 SPIC President & General Manage W. Scott Ramsey issued a press release entitled "Climate Change Law Could Cost You Over a $1,000 Per Year," stating that "CO2 touches all our lives in some way such as... exhaling when you breath" (sic) and that, since SIPC gets most of its energy from coal, "if HR-2454 becomes law, the people of Southern Illinois (and in many Midwestern states), will see sizeable increases on their electric bill. For cooperative members and municipal customers in our region, those costs could range from $240 to $1,300 per year as a minimum."

Coal lobbying
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative is a member of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners Duke Energy, Southern Company and American Electric Power as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.

ACAA set up a front group called Citizens for Recycling First, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

Contact Details
11543 Lake of Egypt Road, Marion, IL 62959 Phone: 618.964.1448 Fax at 618.964.1867 Website: http://www.siec.org/sipc.html

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