Energy Department Nixes Illinois FutureGen Project

Jan 30, 06:42 PM

Jan. 30--Federal officials Wednesday abruptly pulled out of a $1.8 billion clean coal energy project slated for Downstate Illinois, citing increasing costs to taxpayers and technological advances since plans for the project were first launched five years ago.

The announcement by the Department of Energy abruptly ended celebrations in Mattoon, the central Illinois town that just a month ago won a battle with Texas to host the FutureGen project.

In a telephone news conference, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said officials have decided to "restructure" the FutureGen project. Instead of focusing on one location for the clean coal technology, the department wants to spread money to a handful of similar projects across the country.

Bodman called the move an "all-around better deal" for American taxpayers.

The government has started to solicit industry applications for the new projects, with the hopes that the private sector will pick up more of the tab. Under the FutureGen agreement, the department would have paid for 74 percent of the project.

The move shocked Illinois officials who questioned if the FutureGen project would have continued as scheduled if one of the two finalist cities in Texas had been granted the project.

Energy Department officials called that idea unfounded.

mcgarcia@tribune.com

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