Informing what comes next
Illinois passed the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) with ambitious promises for displaced fossil fuel energy workers and their communities. But are those programs actually supporting the people they were designed to serve? Through the Illinois Coal Workers & Communities Listening Project, we conduct workforce analyses and examine CEJA’s transition programs to assess if they’re working on the ground, and what needs to change.
Workforce and economic analysis
Research shows that fossil fuel workers fare worse than other displaced workers — left behind by structures and policies that don’t ensure a just transition. Fossil fuel industry skills often don’t transfer easily. Clean energy jobs meant to replace fossil fuel employment force workers to move away from their hometowns. Many fossil fuel workers leave behind unionized, high-wage workplaces with strong protections, entering a precarious labor market.
Our workforce and economic analysis examines how these dynamics play out in Illinois coal communities. Who is displaced? What happens to worker earnings? Do existing policies help workers transition to new industries? Our research ensures transition support is designed around the reality workers face, not assumptions about it.
Evaluating energy transition policies
Illinois has some of the most proactive energy transition policies of any state. These policies are intended to support workers and communities facing plant and mine closures. Our team is comparing Illinois’ energy transition policies to other states with coal fields. Below, we describe the a few of the Illinois policies we’re exploring. Our goal is to document how the policies are being implemented and evaluate how they are supporting Illinois workers and communities.
Displaced Energy Worker Dependent Transition Scholarship
This Illinois scholarship program covers full tuition and mandatory fees at any Illinois public university or community college for dependents of displaced energy workers. It’s a meaningful benefit — but since its launch, participation has been extremely low. Our research documented the program’s impact to date and identifies ways to improve outcomes.
Coal to Solar
Illinois’ Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative, created under the 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, promised to redevelop retired coal plant sites into utility-scale solar and battery storage projects. But did the program deliver on those promises?
An upcoming report will examine the initiative’s design, implementation, and outcomes — including which projects were built, which were cancelled, and why. The report will also look at what comes next for coal plant redevelopment in Illinois, as new state policies take shape.
Solar array next to Baldwin power plant. 2025. Photo by Nick Talan.
Displaced Energy Worker Bill of Rights
Illinois’ Displaced Energy Worker Bill of Rights established a set of protections and services for workers at closing coal plants and mines — from advance notice and career counseling to financial planning and skills matching.
But are those rights actually reaching workers? We are examining how the Bill of Rights has been implemented at Illinois coal plant and mine closures since 2021, what workers and communities have experienced on the ground, and what lessons can inform stronger implementation going forward.
Energy Transition Community Grant
The Climate Jobs Institute received funding from the Resilient Energy Economies Initiative to research Illinois’ Energy Transition Community Grant program, a flexible grant for communities navigating fossil fuel plant and mine closures. Our research combines stakeholder interviews and administrative data analysis to understand how this grant is used by communities — for economic diversification, infrastructure, and long-term planning — as they navigate the shift away from coal.