Montgomery County Seeks Late Entry Into State Nuclear Siting Inquiry

Article Summary: The Montgomery County Board’s Coordinating Committee reviewed a county submission to an Illinois Commerce Commission inquiry seeking communities interested in hosting nuclear power production, and Board Chairman Doug Donaldson requested that it be filed the same day — three days after he reported learning the inquiry existed, and more than two months after the state’s original deadline. No motion or vote on the submission appears in the minutes.

Nuclear Energy Inquiry Key Points:

Donaldson reported learning Monday, July 27, of Illinois Commerce Commission Notice of Inquiry 26-NOI-02, which solicited input from communities interested in hosting nuclear power production.

The deadline for submission was May 25. County Board Administration learned Tuesday, July 28, that the commission would accept a submission from Montgomery County by Friday, July 31.

The committee reviewed the Montgomery County submission on July 30 and Donaldson requested it be submitted that day. The minutes do not describe the submission’s contents.

Donaldson said he would ask the full board to approve “A Resolution in Support of the Responsible Siting, Development and Operation of Nuclear Energy Facilities in Montgomery County, Illinois” at its Tuesday, Aug. 11, meeting.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board’s Coordinating Committee on Thursday, July 30, 2026, reviewed a county submission to a state regulatory inquiry on nuclear power siting and, at the request of Board Chairman Doug Donaldson, moved to place Montgomery County on the record as a community interested in hosting nuclear power production — an item that reached the committee under Other Business, on a compressed timeline, and without a recorded motion or vote.

According to the minutes, Donaldson reported learning on Monday, July 27, of Illinois Commerce Commission Notice of Inquiry 26-NOI-02, which solicited input from communities interested in hosting nuclear power production. A notice of inquiry is generally a proceeding in which a regulatory agency gathers information and comment rather than deciding a contested case.

The deadline for submission had already passed. The minutes record it as May 25 — roughly two months before the county learned of the proceeding. Donaldson requested that County Board Administration inquire whether an opportunity to submit still existed, and on Tuesday, July 28, County Board Administration learned that the Illinois Commerce Commission would accept a submission from Montgomery County by Friday, July 31.

That left the county three days. The committee reviewed the Montgomery County submission at its Thursday morning meeting, and Donaldson requested it be submitted that day, on Thursday, July 30.

No Recorded Vote on the Submission

The minutes record no motion, no second and no vote on the submission itself. The only recorded motion under the Coordinating Committee’s business that morning concerned executive session minutes; the only other motion in the document was the motion to adjourn.

That distinction matters. The Coordinating Committee is a committee of the Montgomery County Board, and its actions are recommendations to the full board rather than enactments. Nothing a committee does commits the county until the full board acts. In this case, the record does not show the committee taking a formal action at all — it shows the committee reviewing a document and the board chairman directing that it be filed.

The record is also silent on the substance. The minutes do not describe what the Montgomery County submission says, who drafted it, whether it identifies any site, property or host community, or whether it commits the county to anything. No copy of the submission accompanies the minutes.

Resolution Headed to the Full Board

Donaldson also reported he would ask the full board to approve “A Resolution in Support of the Responsible Siting, Development and Operation of Nuclear Energy Facilities in Montgomery County, Illinois” at the Tuesday, Aug. 11, meeting. The minutes give no resolution number, no text and no summary of the resolution’s terms. As of the July 30 meeting, no resolution number had been assigned in the record.

The nuclear item arrives with the county’s energy docket already active. The same minutes show that the Development & Personnel Committee’s upcoming agenda includes a wind and solar ordinance item, described as one the committee will review and discuss, and a Pattern Energy item, also listed for review and discussion. The minutes do not connect those items to the nuclear inquiry.

Public comments at the July 30 meeting were recorded as none. Five of the committee’s six members were present — Connie Beck, Mark Hughes, Ethan Murzynski, Dr. Patty Whitworth and Donaldson — with Chad Ruppert absent. The meeting began at 8:30 a.m. in the County Board Room on the second floor of the Historic Courthouse in Hillsboro and adjourned at 9:26 a.m.

The minutes were submitted by acting secretary Mike Plunkett, the county board administrator, as deputized by County Clerk and Recorder Sandy Leitheiser.

Readers should note that the record establishes what the committee reviewed and what the chairman requested. It does not confirm that the submission was in fact filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission, and it does not establish what a submission would obligate the county to do.