Rockport coal-to-gas plant proposal withdrawn
courierpress.com
By Bryan Corbin (Contact)
Originally published 11:50 a.m., November 25, 2008
Updated 11:50 a.m., November 25, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - A plan to build a $2 billion coal-to-gas plant in Spencer County, Ind., has ground to a halt after the developer and two utility companies could not reach agreement on contracts for purchasing the substitute natural gas.
Indiana Gasification LLC previously announced plans to build the coal gasification plant near Rockport, Ind., that would covert local coal into "pipeline quality" substitute natural gas and sell the gas to utility companies. But negotiations over 30-year purchase contracts with utilities Vectren and NIPSCO have dragged out for months, and the parties never were able to reach accord, attorneys said.
Today, an attorney for the developer told the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that negotiations ended unsuccessfully. Attorney Larry J. Wallace asked that the commission terminate any further consideration of the proposed plant; but asked that the developer be allowed to resubmit a revised proposal at a later date.
Previously, two environmental groups, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana and Valley Watch, had asked that the regulatory commission dismiss Indiana Gasification's petition for approval, citing the numerous delays it requested and the potential cost to ratepayers were the project ever to come to fruition.
"We've never asked that the commission prevent them from coming back," said Jerome Polk, attorney for Citizens Action Coalition and Valley Watch. "If they can come back with a workable proposal that makes sense, even my clients would be willing to sit down and talk, if it makes sense and doesn't hang ratepayers out to dry."
Read Wednesday's Evansville Courier & Press and courierpress.com for updates of this story. |
