severe). Another obstacle emerged on June 6. Ameren was required to install pollution-reducing equipment on its five coal-fired generating plants in 2015. But because Ameren was in financial difficulty, it sought and received a waiver from the state of Illinois granting it a five-year delay. Ameren sought to transfer this delay to Dynegy, so that Dynegy would not have to immediately install the devices until 2020, either. But the Illinois Pollution Control Board denied Ameren's request. Dynegy filed its own request for a five-year waiver in July, and warned that the Ameren deal would fall apart if it did not receive the waiver. But the Sierra Club, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and other environmental groups said Dynegy had the resources to install the equipment, and opposed a waiver. ACM Partners, a financial firm hired by the Sierra Club, also argued that Dynegy purposefully left IPH significantly underfunded and unable to tap into the parent company's resources. Dynegy disagreed, but the firm warned that if IPH went bankrupt, workers would lose pensions and local communities would have to pay for any environmental remediation. The Illinois AFL-CIO, however, supported Dynegy's request on September 16, saying that local jobs depended on the waiver. The pollution board said it would make a decision by November 2013. Foresight Energy, a major Illinois coal mining company, said it would install the $500 million anti-pollution devices for free if Dynegy agreed to sign a long-term contract to accept coal only from Foresight Energy. Dynegy declined the offer (in part because it already has long-term coal contracts), and environmental groups opposed it. There was some speculation by financial analysts that the Dynegy-Ameren deal was a poor one. Julien Dumoulin-Smith, executive director of UBS Investment Research, said Dynegy is far more likely to shutter all five coal-powered plants rather than add pollution control devices. Dumoulin-Smith pointed out that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final rules on sulfur dioxide emissions that go into effect in July 2018. Because the Edwards plant is in an area of low air quality, EPA is likely to force Dynegy to close the plant anyway. The remaining four plants are borderline cases with the exception of Duck Creek Station which spent nearly US$800m on sulfur dioxide removal, and may also be forced to close if EPA regulations tighten in the future (a highly likely possibility, he said). 2014 acquisitions On