Prairie State Energy Campus

Prairie State 1,600 MW Generation Station

In 2007 the City of Batavia, working through the Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency, or NIMPA, committed to ownership of 55 megawatts, or MW, of electrical output from the Prairie State Energy Campus, or PSEC, in Washington County, Illinois. PSEC is a technologically advanced electric generation facility, consisting of two generating units capable of aggregately producing approximately 1,600 MW. 

The plant serves consumer-owned electric cooperatives and municipal utilities across five states. The plant features the best available emissions control technologies, making it one of the cleanest coal-fueled power plants in the United States. 

PSEC emissions are less than half the average of regulated emission rates when compared to all U.S. coal plants. The supercritical high-efficiency design of the plant results in carbon dioxide emission rates that are lower than typical coal plants across the country when measured on a per MW-hour basis. Mercury emissions meet Illinois environmental regulations, one of the strictest requirements in the nation. Advanced scrubbing systems provide one of the highest sulfur dioxide removal rates of any permitted plant. Annual nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emission rates are less than one-third the average annual emission rates for U.S. electric power generation facilities. Approximately 98% of sulfur dioxide, 99% of fine particulates, and 80% of nitrogen oxide are removed. 

Being a mine-mouth facility provides the added benefit of eliminating nearly 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year that are typically associated with the transport of coal. Both PSEC units became commercially operational in 2012. For more information on PSEC, visit www.prairiestateenergycampus.com.