Similar to the cooperative spirit that helped form electric cooperatives in the 1930s, Eastern Illini has banded together with nine other distribution cooperatives in Illinois to form our own cooperative. Prairie Power, Inc. (PPI) is our generation and transmission cooperative (sometimes called a G&T). We get all of our electricity from PPI and by combining our collective energy loads we are able to improve our economies of scale.
Makeup of our power supply
62% – Prairie State Generating Campus: featuring the latest in clean coal technology
22% – Long and short term contracts: various fuel types from midwest providers
12% – Purchased on the spot market: through the Midwest System Operators (MISO)
4% – Wind power: purchased from the Pioneer Trial Wind Farm in Paxton
PPI’s distribution cooperatives provide retail electric service to approximately 78,000 consumers within their local service territories. PPI is one of more than 60 G&T cooperatives that supply wholesale electricity to rural utilities in the United States.
Energy Industry Update, 2021
During the 2021 Association of Illinois Electric Cooperative's Annual Meeting, Mark Pruitt offered his insights into what is coming in the energy industry.