Illinois Coal-Fired Utility Learns the Junior Senator Was Speaking the Truth

Updates

August 8, 2012: Black Hills Power to close more coal-powered plants.

Black Hills Corp. said Monday that its utilities will close some older coal-fired power plants because it would cost too much to bring them in compliance with new federal and state environmental regulations.

The company said its Colorado Electric subsidiary will idle a plant in Canon City, Colo., at the end of this year but keep it available for power-generation during peak demand until retiring the plant at the end of 2013.

Colorado Electric will also suspend operations at the end of 2012 for two units of a natural-gas-fired plant in Pueblo, Colo.

The Black Hills Power subsidiary will suspend operations Aug. 31 at a coal-fired unit in Rapid City, S.D., and retire the plant in March 2014. It also plans to retire plants near Gillette and Osage, Wyo., in March 2014.

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This is truly incredible: Illinois coal-fired utility considering filing for bankruptcy:

Midwest Generation, which operates six coal-fired electric generating plants in Illinois, may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection along with its parent company, Edison Mission Energy, executives said Tuesday.

Three months ago, Midwest Generation executives announced they would shutter the outmoded Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago in September. Midwest Generation also owns and operates the Powerton (Pekin), Joliet, Waukegan and Will County (Romeoville) power generation plants, which together with the Chicago plants provide electricity to nearly 5 million homes.

About 1,000 jobs. 

Note to the Granddaughters

On a more pleasant note, we all went "downtown" to Los Angeles to visit Chinatown, Olvera Street, and Little Tokyo.

Best kept secret: for $5.00, one can part all day in Metro Plaza Hotel at 711 North Main Street. All three locations are within easy walking distance, and lots of historical "stuff" to see along the way. Chinatown is about a ten-minute walk; Olvera Street is across the street from the parking garage; and Little Tokyo is 24 minutes.

It is not a grueling walk. The younger granddaughter, who turned 6 in July, walked all day, and walked the entire distance from Chinatown to Little Tokyo.