Taylorville waiting on legislators /
High-tech coal plant on hold during overtime
BY TIM LANDIS BUSINESS EDITOR, STATE JOURNAL REGISTER

JUNE 26, 2007 — TAYLORVILLE, ILL. - No one is more frustrated by the legislative overtime in Springfield than Taylorville Mayor Frank Mathon.
The Christian County community of 12,000 has a $2 billion coal-gasification project and hundreds of jobs riding on the outcome of a General Assembly session hung up over a new state budget and electric rate relief.


"I am really concerned on behalf of this area, not just Taylorville, but the surrounding areas that some agreement on compromise be reached that would allow this project to go ahead," Mathon said.

State environmental officials this month approved a construction permit for a clean-coal project northwest of Taylorville that developers say would be one of the world's largest.
The "integrated gasification combined cycle" technology would convert coal to synthetic gas in the production of electricity. The power plant would produce 650 megawatts of power, enough to supply 630,000 homes.

Supporters say the plant would create 600 permanent jobs while cleanly burning 1.5 million tons of Illinois coal annually, though environmental groups have called on the developers to include strict limits on carbon dioxide emissions, as well as traditional pollutants.

Backers now are paying close attention to the overtime session, where legislation is pending that's considered crucial to attracting private financing for the Taylorville energy center.

The legislation would require the state's two largest utilities - Ameren and Commonwealth Edison - to sign long-term contracts to buy electricity purchased from alternative power plants, including coal gasification.


Current law limits such contracts to three years.

Executives of Tenaska Inc., a Nebraska company that has a 50 percent stake in the Taylorville project, contend the long-term purchasing requirement is crucial to attracting private investment in the plant. The bill has been stalled in a legislative committee, but company officials say they believe there is strong support for the measure.

"We're still in the mix," said Bill Braudt Jr., Tenaska general manager. "We know for sure we're being talked about,"

It is possible the bill would become part of an overall electric rate relief package.
"If they want to make it part of the overall fix, that's fine," Braudt said. "The danger is, if it becomes part of the overall fix, the fix is so complicated, it takes a couple of years to get it implemented.

"We are a private company that looks at the likelihood of success. If it gets pushed out too far, that just becomes too big of a risk for us. That would be a bad thing," he said.
The state approved $5 million for engineering and design work in early 2006.

Braudt said Tenaska is considering a number of options for limiting carbon dioxide emissions from the plant, including underground storage, but the company needs clear standards from state or federal regulators.

"We believe that day is coming, and we want to be prepared," he said.


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