A federal judge ruled last week that a lawsuit aiming to shut down Illinois’ largest coal-fired power plant for operating without a permit can proceed.
In an order issued Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Reona Daly for the Southern District of Illinois denied a motion by the defendant, Prairie State Generating, to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club in March 2023.
The lawsuit claims that the 1,600-megawatt mine-mouth Prairie State coal plant in southern Illinois has been operating illegally for more than a decade because its owners didn’t obtain an operating permit, known as a Title V permit, from the Illinois EPA.
The company said it has had a permit application pending with state regulators since it began operation and is in compliance with the law.
