Director Tom Skinner
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
1021 North Grand Ave East
Springfield, IL 62794

Dear Director Skinner,

I am one of the many concerned residents of DuPage County. Recently we have learned about three peaker power plants in the various stages of approval for construction in north-east Aurora and in West Chicago, within 6 miles of each other. The combined capacity of these plants is 1970 MW, enough to satisfy air conditioning needs of over 2 million people. Residential growth in both DuPage and Kane counties has been estimated by the Reliant Energy company (company that proposed Aurora plant) to be 270,000 residents over the next 20 years. The proposed additions are not compatible with the local need for more generation capacity.

From your public comments at other power plants hearing we know that you advocate that cities and counties control the location and number of peaker plants through the zoning laws. Unfortunately, no zoning laws that address generation of electricity currently exist in Aurora. Deregulation in the energy generation industry has created need for such laws only recently. In fact, the zoning for the site has been decided in 1976, before any of the large residential communities have been established around that location. The city is not able to change the zoning after the company has acquired the land, while your agency denies us any additional protection.

We are the victims of the loophole in the deregulated system. We ask for environmental protection in this particular situation. The proposed peaker power plants will cumulatively add thousands of tons of regulated pollutants to the air every summer, when the air quality is the poorest. High levels of ground level ozone, a product of NOx releases into the air, have exceeded safe limits dozen of times in recent years, causing our region to be classified as a severe ozone non-attainment area.

We ask that you delay issuing permits for more power plants until cumulative effects of many of such plants, local need for generation capacity, and siting of these plants near residential communities and wildlife refuge areas are considered. Cities and counties need to be given time to establish such guidelines and controls. Until this happens we ask that no more permits are issued.


Best regards,


cc: Governor George Ryan, 207 Statehouse, Springfield, IL 62706
cc: Senator Kirk Dillard, 942 Maple Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515
cc: Senator Chris Lauzen, 52 West Downers Place, Suite 201, Aurora, IL 60506
cc: Senator Peter Roskam, 500 Pennsylvania Ave, Glen Ellen, IL 60137
cc: State Rep. Mary Cowlishaw, 552 S.Washington St, Suite 119, Naperville, IL 60504
cc: State Rep.Randall Hultgren, 211 S.Wheaton Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187
cc: Speaker of the House M. Madigan, 300 Statehouse, Springfield, IL 62706
cc: Senate President James Philip, 327 Capitol Bldg, Springfield, IL 62706