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Grass Roots Organizing Asks Council to Look at Coal Contract

The Columbia City Council originally passed a measure in February declaring some parts of the city "blighted."
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The Columbia City Council originally passed a measure in February declaring some parts of the city "blighted."

Grass Roots Organizing is asking the Columbia City Council to get out of what they believe is a bad contract with a coal plant in southern Illinois that provides part of the city’s electricity.

GRO organizer Gretchen Maune met with three council members, Ian Thomas, Barbara Hoppe and Karl Skala, to discuss problems GRO has with the contract.

The city signed a 40-year contract with Prairie State Energy Campus in 2006. The company, owned by Peabody Energy, made similar contracts with more than 200 municipalities across the Midwest. The city is paying more than expected, Maune said.

“We have a lot of extra energy costs since we have to pay when we’re not getting power,” Muane said. “We think it’s also an excessively long time to be in a contract for 40 years.”

Higher prices at Praire State are causing higher electricity rates for the city, Maune said.

In the meeting, Skala emphasized that electricity rates are rising for many reasons, but all three council members seemed interested in at least taking a look at the contract, Muane said.

Muane spoke about the issue at a GRO’s public meeting Thursday evening and took questions from residents.

Arielle Klagsbrun, organizer for Missouri Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, also spoke at GRO’s meeting. Cities across the Midwest are trying to get out similar contracts with Prairie State, Klagsbrun said.

“These towns were sold a bad deal. They were promised long-term, low cost electricity, and it just wasn’t true. The costs of the plant have gone significantly up, double what Peabody promised.”

There will be a scheduled public comment to discuss the contract at the March 3 City Council meeting.

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