U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has little concern about the future fate of the FutureGen project in Mattoon.

Durbin, D-Ill., said the federal stimulus package provides $1 billion in federal money for the development of the FutureGen facility, a clean-coal plant that has the ability to produce electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.

Durbin said he was also able to appropriate more than $100 million to the project, which amounts to $1.1 billion in federal dollars. He said the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of energy companies devoted to the investment of FutureGen, is critical to the future development of the project and future research of carbon-capture technology.

“Those two groups together – the federal commitment, plus the FutureGen Alliance – we believe is the winning combination,” Durbin said.

Durbin visited Mattoon Friday to discuss with local community members, including Coles Together, the county’s economic development agency, updates to the project and a plan for the future.

He said he spoke with the U.S. secretary of energy a few weeks ago, and the secretary expressed optimism that the project was developing without major complications.

Durbin said the U.S. Department of Energy would also make an initial assessment in the coming weeks about the future of the project.

He said the Energy Department is examining the costs of the facility and looking for ways to cut costs as the department prepares to make a final announcement about the project in January. Durbin said he hopes the department’s final construction approval will happen during the first quarter of 2010.

“I feel good about our chances in January, but I’m not going to assume a thing until it’s done,” he said. “We’ve been disappointed before. We don’t want to be disappointed again.”

The arrival of the FutureGen project in Mattoon has inched ever so closely to fruition during the past year, which cumulated in the signing of $17.3 million cooperative agreement in early September between the Alliance and the Energy Department.

The agreement, which stipulates that the Alliance recruit more partners and cut construction costs, came after Mattoon lost the project in early 2008.

After receiving word in December 2007 that the project would be developed in Mattoon, the Bush administration pulled the project and favored the implementation of smaller clean-coal facilities across the nation.

Durbin said following the delay in the project, national and local leaders put together a strong commitment to bring the project back to Coles County.

“It’s a good effort,” he said. “I feel positive about it.”

Brian Brau, director of project development for Peabody Energy, a partner in the Alliance, said the group is successfully recruiting members for the project. He said additional partners would be able to bring more resources to the development of the FutureGen facility.

Brau said international energy companies have been attracted to the project, and the Alliance has sent people to Southeast Asia and Europe to develop contacts. He said no additional companies have officially signed onto the project.

“Obviously, they want to see what the end of the year brings, and how the Alliance and the DOE progress the project and decision-making come January,” Brau said.

He said 50 engineers are in the process of refining the plant’s design and examining costs of the project. Brau said the costs are trending lowered than expected because the economy has lowered the costs of the commodities.

State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, who also attended, said the electricity purchase agreement between the State of Illinois and the Alliance would make the FutureGen plant commercially viable.

The deal, which sits in the Illinois Senate, would allow the state to purchase its electricity solely from FutureGen. Many political leaders, including State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, have said the deal could result in lower taxes because the Alliance is a not-for-profit, which are exempted from various taxes.

The Senate is expected to debate the bill when it reconvenes in January.

“The bill is, as we often times say in Springfield and I suspect in Washington, a work in progress,” Righter said.

He said Illinois lawmakers would discuss from now until January ways to make the agreement work without overburdening the taxpayers.

Angela Griffin, the chief executive officer for Coles Together, said FutureGen would be a significant response to the issues associated with greenhouse gas emissions. She said the project has the potential to alleviate those issues on the global level.

She said the progress of the project could not have happened without local and national support, including Durbin’s efforts.

“We’ve been here before, and you’ve been here before, and I think each time we come together, we get that much closer to achieving our goal,” Griffin said. “It can’t happen soon enough.”

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., updates members of the press and Coles Together on the progress of FutureGen on Friday at the Mattoon Public School Administrative Service Center. Durbin is confident FutureGen will come to Mattoon. (Eric Hiltner/The Daily Easter

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