Correction (in bold) added 4/27.

Eastern is one step closer to building the proposed Renewable Energy Center Thursday as the Illinois Senate approved an amendment to the Public University Energy Conservation Act.

Senate Bill 2009 would allow the university to build the Renewable Energy Center as a pilot project.

It was approved by a 50-0 vote.

The bill will now move to the Illinois House, before it can be placed on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk for signing.

State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, introduced the bill in the House Thursday, after the Senate approved it.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, who introduced the bill in February, said he was cautiously optimistic about it.

He said Rose distributed 1,700 letters of support from Eastern students for the Renewable Energy Center to members of the House.

“He told me the response was really good,” Righter said.

Letters were delivered to the General Assembly Wednesday during Rally Day, when 500 college students lobbied state legislators.

Concerns raised for amending the Public University Energy Conservation Act have been addressed, Righter said.

Concerns included making sure Eastern would not have to pay if the center did not create enough savings and concerns brought by labor unions and other state agencies.

“There is not a downside to this,” Righter said.

Eastern President Bill Perry said the university would wait and see what the House does with the bill.

“We have to wait and see which committee it’s assigned to,” he said. “That committee may ask for testimony or further information. Just as in the Senate side, it went to a particular committee, and they accepted testimony on the amendments and so forth.”

Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, said Righter and Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs, testified in front of the Senate Energy Committee Thursday.

If approved by the House and signed by the governor, the next step for the administration would be to present a proposal to the Board of Trustees. The earliest possibility of taking a proposal to the board would be June 22.

Perry told Charleston residents Wednesday at the Charleston Carnegie Public Library they would receive 30 days notice if a proposal was being sent to the board.

“If we were going to present, then we would let them know by May 22,” he said.

The $40 million project would be funded through bonds paid back through energy savings.

The Renewable Energy Center will be built near the intersection of 18th Street and Edgar Drive.

The biomass gasifier would supply the university’s heating and cooling needs by burning plant matter.

If constructed, the center will replace the steam plant, which is operating on 1928 technology. Construction of the center was announced in November, but the administration retracted the announcement, citing the economy as a reason not to proceed with construction.

Matt Hopf can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].