Electric Energy Inc. v. Hamer

              1
NOTICE
Decision filed 04/12/07. The text of
this dec ision may be changed or
corrected prior to the filing of a
Petition for Rehea ring or the
disposition of the same.
NO. 5-05-0467
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIFTH DISTRICT
___________________________________________________________________________
ELECTRIC ENERGY, INC., ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Massac County.
)
v. ) No. 03-MR-12
)
BRIAN HAMER, Director of Revenue, )
and THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, ) Honorable
) Terry J. Foster,
Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, presiding.
___________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE DONOVAN delivered the opinion of the court:
Taxpayer, Electric Energy, Inc. (EEI), sought judicial review of an administrative
decision from the Illinois Department of Revenue (Department) denying a request for a
refund of a portion of the use taxes it paid. The circuit court of Massac County affirmed the
Department's decision denying the requested refund. EEI now appeals the circuit court's
decision. We affirm.
EEI is a corporation located in Joppa, Illinois, and is engaged primarily in the
wholesale production of electricity. Six percent of its after-tax income, however, is also
derived from the sale of type C specification fly ash. Fly ash, produced by the burning of
coal, is a pozzolan, which, in the presence of water, will combine an activator to produce
cementitious material. Fly ash is divided into two classes based upon its chemical
composition. Fly ash produced from subbituminous and lignite coals is type C and contains
more than 20% lime. Fly ash from bituminous or anthracite coal is type F and generally
contains less than 10% lime. Specification grade type C fly ash has several commercial
applications for use in construction projects as an addition to or replacement for portland