Regarding the editorial “Owner of massive Elwood Energy plant isn’t waiting for Illinois closure deadlines. They’re literally moving the plant to Texas” (April 17): Amid news that Hull Street Energy planned to load six gas turbines onto flatbeds and drive them to Texas, clean energy detractors were quick to point to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) as responsible. That’s false. In fact, the Elwood gas plant is a perfect case study in the dire need to replace aging, expensive fossil fuel plants with reliable and cost-effective energy resources like solar, wind and battery storage.

Over the past seven years, Elwood has hardly operated. It runs less than 5% of the time and, when running, costs $75 per megawatt-hour, or five times the price of energy from new solar generation. Elwood is also unreliable. During Winter Storm Elliott, Elwood was one of eight gas plants in Illinois that failed to perform when called upon by PJM and was subject to “nonperformance” financial penalties. With high operating costs and poor performance, it’s not surprising that J-Power announced that it would close the plant in 2025, well before the 2030 CEJA deadline.

Then, Hull Street Energy found a loophole and made a short-sighted investment deal. It is now scrapping the plant for parts. Texas is willing to take the nearly 30-year-old turbines because there’s currently a five- to seven-year wait to purchase new gas turbines. Texas (and its deregulated energy market) is effectively ending up with our polluting rubble because of supply chain issues.

Meanwhile, the real culprit of our skyrocketing energy bills is moving in next door to the Elwood gas plant. Two out-of-state corporations, Hillwood Investment Properties and PowerHouse Data Centers, have proposed building the “Joliet Technology Center” — a 1.8-gigawatt data center that will sit on 795 acres next to Elwood. Data centers like these are creating a new energy era, driving unprecedented electricity demand. Instead of throwing in the towel on our CEJA goals, we have more reason than ever to double down on producing cheaper clean energy and ensure data centers don’t drive up energy costs while polluting our communities.

Until data center developers are required to bring their own clean energy and capacity resources and are held accountable for their outsized impact on the grid, the strain on our power grid will be untenable. It’s time to pass the POWER Act (SB4016/HB5513) and ensure the new energy era builds on CEJA, delivering a clean energy future for Illinois communities, consumers, businesses and even data centers.

— Jen Walling, CEO, Illinois Environmental Council

Coverage of gambling ring

Recently, the Tribune’s Post-Tribune newspaper characterized a gambling ring in Indiana as “Greek-led” — a phrase that fills me with profound disappointment. Such language is not only superfluous but also perpetuates toxic stereotypes, especially when news outlets regularly omit similar ethnic identifiers for criminal groups led by individuals who belong to other ethnic backgrounds.

Coverage of high-profile cases involving the mafia, for example, rarely foregrounds ethnicity; instead, journalists focus on actions and facts. Crimes involving individuals of color are similarly reported without highlighting their backgrounds unless it holds genuine relevance to the story.

By specifically spotlighting Greek heritage in this instance, the Tribune draws unwarranted attention to ethnicity, as if it were a defining element of the crime rather than incidental. This selective reporting fortifies the misguided notion that certain groups are inherently predisposed to criminal behavior — a notion rooted in antiquated prejudice and patently untrue. Moreover, it undermines the hard-won progress toward recognizing crime as a matter of individual responsibility rather than collective guilt. It is incumbent upon newspapers to uphold consistency and fairness, avoiding language that isolates or stigmatizes communities unless such information is truly essential to understanding the story at hand.

As readers, we depend upon the media to enlighten us impartially. When a publication chooses to accentuate the ethnicity of suspects in certain cases yet disregards it in others, it betrays that fundamental trust.

The Tribune — and all news outlets — should reconsider these editorial choices and pledge themselves to reporting that honors all communities with equal respect. Only then can we earnestly aspire to a media landscape grounded in true fairness and accuracy.

— George Reveliotis, president, ENOSIS

My mother the superhero

I grew up in a house that doubled as my father’s business. He was an accountant, and my mother was his secretary. Dinner conversations sounded more like office meetings than family meals, filled with words like payroll, quarterly reports, invoices and W-2s. My brother and I had no idea what any of it meant.

It seemed my parents were always working. Even weekends were rarely free. My mother would leave her desk only to cook, clean the house and iron clothes, then return to work. My father called her his “Girl Friday.” She didn’t prepare complicated tax returns, but she handled countless tasks for the business and did them exceptionally well.

When I was about 10 years old, my father got into legal trouble unrelated to his accounting practice. He was convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to a year in federal prison. Overnight, my mother was left to hold the business and the family together.

My father’s clients were loyal and had become close friends over the years, but my mother knew little about the technical side of accounting or tax preparation. It seemed impossible that the business could survive.

Then I watched my mother transform almost overnight from a secretary into a full-fledged accountant. My uncle, who was also an accountant, stepped in to help with the workload, but my mother learned quickly. Before long, she was meeting with clients, preparing tax returns and running the office with a confidence that surprised everyone.

She never complained. Not once.

Every Saturday, we drove two hours each way to visit my father in prison. My mother always brought him several cartons of cigarettes. In prison, cigarettes were as good as currency.

I will never forget that year. My mother became my hero. She held the business together and did not lose a single client. When my father finally came home, he returned to a business that was not broken, but thriving — thanks entirely to her strength, loyalty and resolve.

My father never forgot it either.

— Scott T. Thompson, Bloomington, Indiana

The myths told to women

Mother’s Day is here and seems as good a time as any for women to finally level with one another. Following are a few of the myths that women continue to perpetuate.

1. You can have it all.

Telling girls that they can “have it all,” and the slightly less false, “You can have it all, just not at the same time,” is misleading at best. Young women who are considering raising a family should know that parenting is more demanding — both physically and emotionally — than they might think. Prepare accordingly in selecting a life partner and career.

2. Childbirth is hard.

This is like saying, “Living through a pandemic is inconvenient.” I never worried about the physical pain of childbirth when I was pregnant because I blithely assured myself that I would receive an epidural and thus experience no pain or at worst a bit of discomfort during the blessed event. It turned out, for reasons that still aren’t entirely clear to me, that I went for hours — or maybe it just seemed like hours — before I received said epidural. If you’re pregnant, expect to be in excruciating pain at some point during childbirth. Full stop.

3. Menopause is a relief.

Since getting my period at the age of 13, there was always a part of me that looked forward to “the change” and associated release from the hassles of menstruation. These hassles have now been replaced with daily unbidden hot flashes and night sweats, equally, if not more, uncomfortable and inconvenient than having my period each month.

Why are women not honest with each other about these and other facts? Do we lie or at best obfuscate to avoid being the bearers of bad news? Must every generation fend for itself? Is it some kind of biological amnesia necessary to propagate the species?

I hope someday to have a granddaughter of my own to pass along these and other pearls of wisdom (e.g., nearly anyone can be attractive; some just have to work at it more than others). If not, this piece will have to suffice.

Happy Mother’s Day!

— Stacy J. Seiden, Northbrook

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