Study finds Illinois’ Displaced Energy Workers Bill of Rights falls short

The 2025 closing of the Viper Coal Mine in Sangamon County left dozens of workers without jobs and exposed gaps in a state law designed to protect energy workers displaced by the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels, according to a new report from University of Illinois researchers.

The report, released by the university’s Climate Jobs Institute, found that non-union workers at the mine about 20 miles southeast of Springfield did not receive the same level of assistance as unionized employees preparing for the closures of two coal-fired power plants in central and southwestern Illinois planned for 2027-28.

The closures were examined as the first of three under the Displaced Energy Workers Bill of Rights, enacted as part of Illinois’ 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Although the law was intended to help workers navigate the loss of jobs in the fossil fuel industry, researchers found that limited enforcement authority leaves workers vulnerable when employers fail to comply.

In December 2024, Knight Hawk Coal — based in the deep southern Illinois town of Percy — announced the impending closure of the Viper Coal Mine, once a major employer in the communities of Williamsville and Elkhart.

At its peak, between 2010 and 2015, the mine had employed more than 300 workers. By early 2024, its workforce had fallen to 92. By the end of that year, just 18 employees remained, primarily to oversee the removal of equipment and other decommissioning work.

Researchers Roshan Krishnan and Johnathan Hettinger concluded in the report that Knight Hawk Coal failed to file required closure notices and did not respond to repeated outreach attempts from state officials seeking to connect workers with job-placement and other assistance.

According to the U of I researchers, Knight Hawk’s delayed response to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity left little time for state officials to connect affected workers with assistance.

The Viper mine was established during the 1980s to provide coal to Springfield. Knight Hawk acquired ownership of the mine in 2020, but Springfield almost immediately reduced its coal purchases, prompting the company to gradually scale back production, company spokesperson Candice Cotter said in an email.

The company said the reductions continued as it attempted to negotiate a new agreement with the city to provide greater certainty for the mine and its employees.

“Knight Hawk followed all applicable regulations and statutes. Any implication contrary is patently false,” Cotter wrote.

Knight Hawk did not directly address questions about what assistance, if any, was provided to employees following their layoffs, including whether workers were connected with job-placement services or other resources intended to help displaced energy workers.

The disparity highlights a central question raised by the report: whether Illinois’ protections for displaced energy workers are effective and if the 2021 law lacks the authority to ensure employers comply with them.

The report also highlights the role unions can play in helping workers prepare for plant closures, particularly in rural communities where alternative employment opportunities may be limited.

No advanced notice

Former Williamsville Village President Mark Esker, who left office in early 2026, said he received no advance warning despite months of rumors about the mine’s future.

Esker also said he knew of at least two constituents who were laid off shortly before qualifying for retirement benefits, leaving them without benefits they had counted on.  One of the men continued working for Viper by making deliveries to other mines in southern Illinois, Esker told Southern Illinois Source.

The report found that Knight Hawk failed to submit the required closure notices despite repeated attempts by the DCEO to reach the company. This ultimately prevented state officials from connecting workers to resources they should have been offered under the law.

The circumstances also raised questions about whether Viper’s gradual workforce reductions allowed the company to avoid triggering other worker-notification requirements.

The mine reduced its employment over several years as operations declined. The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — known as the WARN Act — requires covered employers to provide 60 days’ notice of qualifying mass layoffs and plant closings.

When Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act into law in 2021, Illinois established a framework for moving toward cleaner energy while providing support for workers and communities affected by the transition.

The legislation set a goal of achieving 100% carbon-free energy in the power sector and ending emissions from privately owned coal-fired power plants by 2030. It also included provisions intended to help displaced energy workers pursue new careers through education, job training and employment services.

Those resources can include assistance through the Illinois Dislocated Worker Program, workforce development programs and Clean Jobs Workforce Network Hubs. Workers seeking to start businesses may also be connected with Small Business Development Centers.

Researchers urged the state to establish penalties for employers who don’t comply and give DCEO greater authority to enforce the law.

They also called for stronger coordination between the state agency and organized labor, along with improved monitoring of federal and regional developments that could change the timing of planned plant closures.

Union presence is evident

The report also examined the scheduled closures of the Kincaid and Baldwin coal-fired power plants, where most employees are represented by unions.

Unlike the workers at Viper, unionized employees at the two plants are already receiving assistance and information through their union representatives as they prepare for the loss of their jobs, according to the report.

At Kincaid, for example, owned by Vistra, 99 people are employed full time, including 80 represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 15. In June 2026 affected workers were sent toolkits prepared by the state to allow workers job placement alternatives.

With the plant’s future uncertain, union leaders have warned that workers may need to leave Illinois to find comparable jobs.

“They are giving employees the opportunity to transfer. It’s just that they are running out of transfer opportunities within Illinois,” said Ben Busser, vice president of IBEW Local 15.

The Baldwin plant, located in southwestern Illinois in Randolph County, employs about 120 people, including 105 represented by IBEW Local 51.

Ryan Watson, a business representative with Local 51, said workers at the Baldwin Power Plant in Randolph County face a different challenge if their next opportunity requires leaving the state.

“Leaving the state is totally different than just moving an hour or two away to the next plant,” Watson said.

Some workers may have opportunities to transfer to facilities in states such as Ohio or Texas. But relocating can be a difficult prospect for employees who have established their lives and families in rural Illinois communities.

Brad Gritt, a business representative with Local 15, said workers at Kincaid have relatively strong wages and benefits, making it difficult to find comparable positions elsewhere.

“Wages- and benefits-wise, these guys are doing pretty well and it’s hard because they’re in one of the better locations now,” Gritt said in the University of Illinois report. He added that workers who take other jobs could find themselves starting over or accepting lower pay.

Busser added he hoped the Trump administration would intervene to extend Kincaid’s operating life.

The report noted that the loss of coal facilities across Illinois is steadily reducing the number of potential transfer opportunities. That is particularly consequential for workers in rural areas, where alternative employers may be scarce.

An industry in decline

Illinois has long been a major coal-producing state and remains the nation’s fourth-largest producer, but the industry has declined as renewable energy has expanded and power generation has shifted to renewable alternatives.

According to figures cited in the report from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois boasted 20 operating coal mines employing about 3,000 workers in 2007. By 2024, the number of mines had fallen to 12, employing a little more than 2,000 workers.

Mechanization also has reduced the number of employees needed to produce coal, even as production has increased, the University of Illinois report noted.

The broader decline has affected communities that relied on mines and power plants for well-paying jobs, local tax revenue and economic stability. For some rural towns, the loss of a major employer can affect not only individual workers but also local businesses and the resources available to support schools and public services.

Meanwhile, the future of Illinois’ Kincaid and Baldwin plants remains a concern for workers and their communities. Both facilities have been evaluated for potential conversion to natural gas, an option that could affect their long-term operations and staffing needs.

For the authors of the University of Illinois report, the experience at Viper demonstrates that establishing protections in law is not enough if employers can fail to comply without meaningful consequences.

The disparity between Viper’s non-union workforce and the unionized employees at Kincaid and Baldwin is evidence of how access to representation and timely information can shape workers’ options during a closure.

The researchers urged Illinois to give DCEO more effective enforcement powers, and the ability to impose penalties for noncompliance while improving partnerships with organized labor

In an era of rapidly changing federal policy and changing regulations in the energy sector, the report’s researchers also noted that the data center boom is expected to further strain the load on the state’s energy grid — further underscoring the need to potentially keep coal plants open longer than originally expected and provide more protections for workers caught in the middle of the tussle between state and federal policies.

“It would help if our federal policy wasn’t shifting wildly from administration to administration,” said Krishnan, one of the researchers, adding that federal regulation on data centers may ensure a more precise timetable for future plant closures.

Still, the ultimate responsibility to enforce the energy worker bill of rights falls on state officials, not the federal government, they pointed out.

“The onus is on the state — they are making these coal plants close and the state needs to be the one to make sure the onus is met,” co-researcher Hettinger said.

Southern Illinois Source is a subsidiary of Capitol News Illinois.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.