Proposed energy center secures IEPA permit
BY CATHY ROBERTSON, BREEZE-COURIER WRITER

JUNE 5, 2007 – TAYLORVILLE, ILL. – The developers of a proposed 650 megawatt clean coal power plant are likely to announce today the final approval of an IEPA permit that pushes the project over another major hurdle.

Nebraska-based Tenaska, Inc., the managing member of the Taylorville Energy Center under development by Christian County Generation LLC, was expected to announce the issuance of the air construction permit at a press conference scheduled for 2:00 p.m. today at City Hall.

The plant would be the first "clean-coal" integrated gasification combined cycle generation station built in the state, the first commercially sized plant of its kind in the country, and among the most environmentally friendly coal-powered plants in the world. The project has enjoyed unprecedented support from state and local officials, trades and labor unions, and coal producers as well as consumer groups like the Citizens Utility Board.

The Taylorville Energy Center would create more than 1,500 construction jobs and hundreds of long-term mining and power plant jobs. According to a financial impact study released by Northern Illinois University last month, the plant would add an estimated $356 million to the area economy each year.

A full report on today's press conference will be published in tomorrow's Breeze-Courier.


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