Legislation to land $1 billion plant filed on Friday
SPRINGFIELD– Legislation to help Illinois land the $1 billion FutureGen project was introduced on Friday, but will likely be revised before a final vote.
FutureGen is a joint effort between the federal government and a consortium of private companies to build the world's cleanest power plant, with near-zero emissions.
Mattoon and Tuscola are two of the four finalists for the plant. They are competing against two sites in Texas, a state that enacted legislation protecting FutureGen from certain kinds of lawsuits.
The proposed Illinois measures are designed to help level the playing field on that front, although final wording is still being developed.
State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, introduced SB 1603 on Friday, the last day to file bills in the Illinois Senate. But the measure is still a work in progress.
"Considering the deadlines applicable to the filing of legislation, we need to have bills in the system and moving through the process," Righter said. "We have been working with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and look forward to continuing to work as a team to amend this legislation as needed as we go along."
Righter also signed on as chief co-sponsor of SB 1704, a similar bill filed Friday by state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton. And State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, filed his own bill on Friday, HB 1135. Rose said he fully expected to amend the measure once DCEO wraps up its negotiations with the FutureGen Alliance.
"FutureGen for my area is the top priority of this session," he said.
The economic benefits of landing the plant would be significant.
FutureGen is supposed to generate as many as 1,300 construction jobs, and another 150 permanent jobs when it begins operations. Many other jobs could follow if FutureGen revitalizes the coal industry as much as expected.
DCEO spokesman Andrew Ross said the state's efforts to land FutureGen began three years ago and are still progressing.
"Everybody's still working together on the federal, state and local levels," Ross said. "This is a bipartisan effort. We are continuing to do everything that we possibly can to bring FutureGen to Illinois.
"We certainly believe that we have science on our side and our state has everything that this project needs to be successful: the geology, the infrastructure and a strong record of developing clean coal technology."
For more information about the state's efforts, visit www.futuregenforillinois.com.
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