New support comes from West Virginia, Michigan and United Mine Workers of America
SPRINGFIELD – The coalition of states supporting Illinois’ bid to secure the federal FutureGen clean coal project grew today as West Virginia and Michigan added their names to the list. In addition, the more than 20,000 members of the United Mine Workers of America also announced their support for FutureGen in Illinois.
Wyoming, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oho and Wisconsin have previously endorsed locating the $1.4 billion FutureGen plant in Mattoon or Tuscola. With the addition of West Virginia and Michigan, the Illinois coalition now represents three-quarters of the coal produced the United States each year and 59 percent of the total U.S. reserves.
“Seven of my fellow Governors, joined by the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy and the United Mine Workers of America, are united in their belief that FutureGen should be built in a coal state whose geology and other assets lend themselves for readily transferring the project’s technology both nationally and internationally,” Governor Rod R. Blagojevich said.
The FutureGen Industrial Alliance, which is developing the facility for the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), is expected to announce its final selection from the remaining sites in mid-December. The two other sites are in Texas.
“Illinois fills the bill for FutureGen with superior geology and ample water resources. Moreover, Illinois is centrally located to bring coal from the nation’s major producing regions to the FutureGen facility at the least cost to the project and to the environment,” said Cecil Roberts, UMWA International President. “It is a simple matter, in our opinion. A coal project of this importance belongs in a coal state.”
In a letter to Governor Blagojevich, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin wrote, “As coal states, we have unique challenges. Surmounting these challenges is best accomplished as a team. I feel the Illinois sites best reflect the need of our nation’s coal industry and the economy of coal states. I support an Illinois FutureGen location.”
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm wrote a letter to the FutureGen Alliance in which she said, “I appreciate the mission and efforts of the FutureGen Energy Alliance, and strongly support Illinois’ efforts to locate this innovative and unprecedented project in the Midwest.”
Governor Blagojevich, the Illinois Congressional delegation, and state and local partners across Illinois have been working for more than four years to bring the $1.4 billion FutureGen project to Illinois.
Governor Blagojevich has committed to an aggressive investment package to secure the project, with $17 million in direct grants from a clean coal technology fund; $50 million set aside by the Illinois Finance Authority for below-market-rate loans; and an estimated $15 million in sales tax exemptions on materials through local Enterprise Zones or the High Impact Business program.
FutureGen is designed to be the cleanest fossil fuel-fired power plant in the world. The facility will convert coal into hydrogen and electricity, while capturing and safely storing the carbon dioxide deep underground. It will lay the groundwork for developing similar plants around the country and the world, pioneering the capture, rather than release greenhouse gases. Illinois is a coal state whose geology will maximize the transferability of FutureGen’s technology.
FutureGen will produce 275 megawatts of electric power, which is enough electricity to power 150,000 homes, as well as hydrogen for fuel cell technology that will serve as the next generation “battery” to operate everything from a computer to a car.
Members of the FutureGen Alliance represent the largest energy companies in the United States, plus major energy companies in Asia, Europe and Australia.
For more information on FutureGen, please visit www.FutureGenForIllinois.com.