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The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG), today announced the creation and launch of a new Illinois Basin Rapid Response Team (RRT), bringing together 11 federal agencies to partner with local officials and community leaders in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky to support the region’s transition to a clean energy economy.
“Energy workers and their communities in the Illinois Basin face enormous challenges as local coal mines and plants close down as part of the nation transitions to a clean energy economy. The Biden-Harris Administration made billions of dollars available for energy communities across America to spur economic diversification, advance workforce development, clean up environmentally damaged sites and more,” said Energy Communities IWG Director Brian Anderson, PhD.
“Energy workers and their communities in the Illinois Basin face enormous challenges as local coal mines and plants close down as part of the nation transitions to a clean energy economy. The Biden-Harris Administration made billions of dollars available for energy communities across America to spur economic diversification, advance workforce development, clean up environmentally damaged sites and more,” said Energy Communities IWG Director Brian Anderson, PhD.
The new RRT will align federal resources, including regional staff on the ground in the Illinois Basin area, toward key communities experiencing recent or imminent economic downturns from coal mine and power plant closures. Federal agencies serving on the RRT will partner with workers, communities, and public officials to support them with mapping their current assets and opportunities. These agencies will help them navigate and access federal funding and technical assistance as well as leverage significant new funding opportunities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to equity in Rural America begins by ensuring that people in rural places receive the same opportunities people in cities receive to build-up their local economies and create jobs, improve their infrastructure, and strengthen their communities with federal resources,” said USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Farah Ahmad. “Today’s announcement is the beginning of an effort that will provide critical on-the-ground technical assistance, and lay the framework for better and more diverse economic opportunities for the people living in America’s energy communities in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Under the leadership of the President Biden, Vice President Harris and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, USDA is a strong partner to people in rural towns because we know when rural America prospers, all of America prospers.”
The USDA Rural Development State Director for Illinois, Betsey Dirksen Londrigan, will lead the interagency effort in the region. Stakeholders interested in partnering with and providing input to the RRT can send an email to Contact@EnergyCommunities.gov. The RRT will reach back out to stakeholders with a compilation of meeting notes, points of contact, and next steps soon.
Today’s announcement comes on the second day of a two-day visit by federal leaders to Carbondale. On Wednesday, federal officials toured energy and manufacturing facilities in the area, including the John A. Logan Solar Project, Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale’s Airport & Automotive Program and the university’s iFERM (Illinois Food, Entrepreneurship, Research, and Manufacturing) Hub. Energy Communities IWG also hosted a public workshop today at SIU engaging community leaders, highlighting relevant federal funding, and identifying opportunities for regional economic diversification and growth in response to coal mine and power plant closures.
Historical investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act present energy communities with a multitude of opportunities to revitalize communities, diversify workforces, and support energy workers.
The Illinois Basin RRT is modeled after similar efforts piloted in Wyoming and the Four Corners area of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. The IWG will announce additional regional RRTs in the upcoming months. The RRT effort is part of the IWG’s core goal of creating a national network of assistance for energy communities that is community-driven, in partnership with federal, state, tribal, local and non-governmental organizations and leaders.
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Established by an Executive Order in President Biden’s first week in office, the IWG is pursuing a whole-of-government approach to create good-paying union jobs, spur economic revitalization, remediate environmental degradation, and support energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities across the country as the U.S. prepares to undergo a historic energy evolution to a carbon emission-free electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.