Tenaska Bill Fails in Illinois Senate Vote, But Still Alive

The Tenaska Taylorville Energy Center sourcing agreement bill (SB2485) failed a vote in the Illinois Senate yesterday, but is still alive due to a parliamentary measure.

The bill was voted down 29-25, but its sponsor, Sen. Deanna Demuzio, kept the bill alive through a parliamentary procedure which allows for another vote on the measure. Thirty votes are needed for passage.

The new legislative session will commence at noon on January 12, and the Senate is only scheduled to be in session three days between now and then. If the bill is not passed before then, it would need to undergo the entire legislative process again, a process that Tenaska has intimated it is not willing to pursue.

The bill has already cleared the House.

SB2485 would require alternative retail electric suppliers to purchase the output of the Tenaska plant, without any cap on their cost obligation. Utilities would also be required to enter sourcing agreements, but costs from the coal plant to mass market customers on default service would be subject to a 2% rate impact cap.

Key to the bill's failure in yesterday's vote was opposition from Sen. Kyle McCarter, who represents a district neighboring Taylorville and had previously expressed support for the bill. McCarter cited, in particular, data from Archer Daniels Midland which said that the bill would result in additional electric costs of nearly $5 million to ADM annually.