Chicago

Intrigue continues around plans for shuttered Chicago coal plant site

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The property owner acknowledged that diesel-fired peaker plants could continue operating on the site even after redevelopment. More than six years after the celebrated closure of the Fisk coal plant in Chicago, residents are unhappy with plans for the site that include a logistics hub and the possibility of diesel-fired peaker plants continuing to operate there. NRG Energy, which acquired the site from previous owner Midwest Generation after the plant closed, has sold it to a real estate company specializing in logistics, the office of local alderman Danny Solis told the media outlet Block Club Chicago. The company has an agreement with Hilco Redevelopment Partners to “explore the potential for redevelopment of the Fisk site,” NRG spokesman David Knox told the Energy News Network, and he said the peakers could continue to operate even if the site is redeveloped. Hilco last year purchased the site of the other shuttered Chicago coal plant, Crawford, in the nearby Little Village neighborhood.