Starting in the early 1970s and through most of the 1980s, Ted Stalnos was able to raise a family on the money he earned working at LTV Steel’s coke plant in Chicago’s East Side community.

 

(AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that could lead to the construction of a new plant in Chicago that converts coal to natural gas.

 

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Senate Bill 1533 recently passed in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly with overwhelming majorities. The legislation backs the proposal for a $ 3 billion clean energy facility on Chicago’s Southeast side. Sponsored by Representative Marlow H. Colvin and Senator Donne E. Trotter, the bill’s fate now rests with Governor Pat Quinn. The project will provide Illinois ratepayers relief from high gas prices by manufacturing a substitute natural gas from coal and petroleum coke.

 

The General Assembly paved the way late Tuesday for Illinois consumers to pay for synthetic natural gas to be piped into their homes to support two proposed coal-to-gas plants.

The two bills passed at the close of the legislative session contain consumer protections including rate caps and other measures to ensure residential customers do not see their gas bills jump more than 2 percent per year. Consumer advocates had insisted such protections be added.

 

(Crain's) — In the waning hours of the state’s legislative session, lawmakers on Wednesday sent Gov. Pat Quinn a revamped bill that could pave the way for construction of a $3-billion synthetic gas plant on Chicago’s South Side.

Mr. Quinn in March vetoed a previous version that would have forced the state’s natural gas ratepayers to shoulder the higher costs of the gas the plant would produce. But Leucadia National Corp., the New York-based conglomerate developing the facility, agreed to consumer protections that limit rate increases and spread the burden of higher prices to businesses that buy gas from non-utility providers.