Developer Backs Out Of Controversial Glenwood Power Plant Plan

GLENWOOD, IL — A proposal to build a natural-gas power plant in Glenwood that sparked controversy across the region is dead after developers backed out of the plan last week.

The announcement that Oak Meadow Energy would not pursue the project in Glenwood was made quietly on the village's website.

"As you are probably aware, there has been a great deal of public and private debate about a proposal to build a natural gas fueled electric energy generating facility within the Village of Glenwood," Village President Ronald Gardiner wrote in a letter posted on the site. "The purpose of this letter is to now inform you that the Developer has decided to no longer pursue this project in Glenwood."

Kyle Kekeisen, an Oak Meadow project manager, offered this statement Saturday: "After extensive due diligence, Advanced Power has decided not to proceed with development of Oak Meadow Energy, a proposed Glenwood, Ill., natural gas-powered electric generation facility.

“We've truly enjoyed working with Village officials as well as residents and local business owners,” he said. “At this point, we need to step back and reevaluate regional needs and how best to meet them.”Advance Power is the parent company of Oak Meadow Energy.

Kekeisen added that this will be the only statement the company will make.

Neither Gardiner nor Village Administrator Brian Mitchell responded to repeated requests for comment.

The plant was a short-lived proposal stopped in part by grassroots and local municipality opposition. Residents across Glenwood and neighboring villages opposed the project, saying officials had not properly vetted the environmental, economic or quality-0f-life impact that building such a plant would have on the area. Earlier in March for example, activists staged protests at a Cook County board meeting and at a dinner held for regional municipal mayors. The Village of Homewood last week passed a resolution opposing Glenwood's power plant.

"This letter raises more questions than it answers," said Natalie Neuman, an activist with Illinois Southland Against Fossil Energy, the organization that led the opposition.

"We would like to see the official document from Advanced Power/Oak Meadow Energy," Neuman said. "We suspect they may have other avenues to acquire the land to build their plant, which is not wanted in the south suburbs. We find the timing suspicious with the election only a few days away. Finally, there are statements in the letter that are misleading at best."

"We are asking for full transparency and disclosure from the Village and Advanced Power, with all documents released for public review," she added.

The plant was expected to generate about 1,250 megawatts of electricity, and officials said it would have brought in more than $4 million in tax revenue and attracted hundreds of new jobs to the area. It would have been built on 30 acres on the west side of Cottage Grove and north of Joe Orr Roads that would have needed to be annexed into Glenwood.

The idea was spurred by the Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act, which requires that state utilities generate a quarter of their electricity from renewable sources, such as solar or wind, by 2025. Municipalities across the region are scouting similar projects, including a Chicago Heights bid for a solar farm.

In his letter to the public, Gardiner said the village had begun to do due diligence and was taking steps to conduct air, noise, emissions and other impact studies. Oak Meadow pulled out of the project before that could happen, he said.

"From the very beginning, I felt that this potential project presented many opportunities but needed to be carefully evaluated to make sure that it did not negatively impact the Village. While this facility may have resulted in reduced property taxes and allow for Village road and infrastructure improvements, its impact on the quality of life in the Village was also equally an important factor to consider," Gardiner wrote.