By JIM SUHR, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy, frustrated by ballooning costs for an ambitious plan to build a virtually emissions-free power plant, told federal lawmakers Tuesday it expects to pull its support for the $1.8 billion project in Illinois, lawmakers said.
The Energy Department would not publicly divulge its intentions about the plant, dubbed FutureGen, or discuss what was said during the private meeting with lawmakers, saying only that it planned an announcement within days.
But some lawmakers who attended the briefing later insisted that building the coal-fired, 275-megawatt prototype power plant anywhere other than the central Illinois town of Mattoon would be unacceptable — and grounds for a possibly nasty congressional fight.
Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, accused Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman of “cruel deception” of Illinoisans by “creating false hope in a FutureGen project which he has no intention of funding or supporting.”
Durbin said Illinois’ delegation in Congress “is going to make the case for FutureGen directly to the President.”
“We will not go down without a fight,” he said.
The FutureGen Alliance, a coalition of power and coal companies, last month announced that the plant would be built in Mattoon, under a plan that called for the DOE to cover three-quarters of the cost. The site was chosen over Tuscola, Ill., and two sites in Texas.
But the DOE had wanted the announcement delayed until the project could be redesigned and the costs reduced. The department also said it wasn’t ready to issue its final notice that Mattoon was environmentally acceptable.
Bodman declined to discuss the Energy Department’s plans Tuesday with The Associated Press, and a statement issued by his agency did not divulge what the department has in mind for FutureGen.
While saying it “remains committed to FutureGen’s objectives to advance the availability and use of clean-coal technology to meet growing demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the department said it “believes that the public interest mandates that FutureGen deliver the greatest possible technological benefits in the most cost-efficient manner.”
Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesman for the alliance, said developers have heard from the Energy Department “about the need to restructure the program,” but would not speculate about what might happen.
The alliance earlier this month offered to assume a greater share of the project’s cost to allay government concerns, lowering the DOE obligation to the same level as when the project was announced in 2003 — it then was $800 million and now is around $1.33 billion.
The alliance said it would cover the rest and assume any further cost increases, through a combination of bank financing and repayments from revenue generated by the plant.
The DOE, in its first response to the offer, objected Tuesday, saying in a statement that if the alliance defaulted on its debt, the department could be left to pay the bill or the plant could wind up in the hands of lenders.
FutureGen aims to test the commercial and environmental viability of using coal to generate energy while capturing the carbon dioxide and storing it underground. Scientists say the greenhouse gas is one of the drivers of climate change.
Finalist sites all coveted the roughly 3,000 construction jobs the plant was expected to generate while being built, plus another 150 permanent jobs.
Rep. Jerry Costello, a Democrat from Belleville, Ill., accused Bodman’s department of “cutting and running on a project that is critical to our nation’s energy future.”
Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican from nearby Collinsville, Ill., said “our greatest fears have been realized” with the Energy Department’s pullout.
“Now we have to regroup and review all of our options as we move forward,” Shimkus said in a statement. “President Bush proposed FutureGen in 2003, and we will start by reaching out to him.” More…
Lots of luck with that. -Sue
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