Developers change fuel for planned Illinois plant
pjstar.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. —
A Nebraska company has amended its proposed plan to build an electrical power plant in central Illinois, saying it would use natural gas instead of gasified coal to power the operation, cutting the cost of the project by nearly two-thirds.
Omaha, Neb.-based Tenaska hopes that by removing coal from the equation, the General Assembly will approve its plan to build the Taylorville Energy Center in Christian County, The Herald & Review in Decatur reported Thursday. The legislature could vote on the issue within weeks.
As part of its original plan, Tenaska had sought to build a gasification island that converted coal into synthetic gas, injecting greenhouse gas emissions underground while using the gasified coal as its fuel source for electrical generation. Dropping the coal portion would mean the plant would not sequester emissions.
The change slashed the project's estimated cost to about $1.1 billion.
The proposal remains controversial, party over Tenaska wanting the state lawmakers to sign off on a plan that would require customers to buy electricity from the plant for the next three decades. Business groups opposed to the rate structure say they will continue challenging that plan, and environmentalists have voiced concerns about the pollution the plant would cause.
The Illinois Coal Association's chief, Phil Gonet, believes the plant will be built so it can later be retrofitted to begin transforming Illinois coal into a synthetic natural gas.
"There's still a hope that there's coal in the future," he told The Chicago Tribune. "Getting something under construction and up and running so that maybe in three years they consider building on the gasification component - that's better than where we are today."
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Developers change fuel for planned Illinois plant
wjbc.com
BLOOMINGTON – The Nebraska company that wants to build a fuel plant in southern Illinois has changed its plan, but local business leaders are still against it.
Tenaska at first wanted an experimental coal gasification plant in Taylorville, but owners are now hoping for legislative approval of a plant fueled by natural gas. There’s a coalition opposed to the proposal, called STOP, and the McLean County Chamber of Commerce is a member.
Government Affairs Director Ryan Whitehouse said the concerns with the project are still there, including state subsidies the plant would get.
“They’re getting a 30 year guaranteed subsidy with this and that would mean there’s going to be costs to residential and businesses,” Whitehouse said. “The rate of return is still going to be there.”
Whitehouse said Tenaska has admitted it will build the plant in two stages.
“They’re going to make it that if natural gas prices ever get back up that it’s not economical for them to keep natural gas, that they can build out even more and go back to coal and get that synthetic fuel,” Whitehouse said.
Under the plan, Illinois utilities would be required to buy electricity from the plant for the next 30 years. According to the Chicago Tribune, under the new deal, electricity increases to businesses would be capped at one-tenth of a cent per kilowatt hour while residential bills would get no more than three-quarters of a percentage increase.
The plan is backed by Senate President John Cullerton. Supporters say it will create jobs. The original concept was backed by Southern Illinois University because of the research opportunities tied to finding an environmentally friendlier way to use the state’s coal.
“I think honestly in this climate when a plant like this can go up in Taylorville, and they’re talking about job creation that the general public looks at that and thinks, ‘We have to support this,’ but if the education is there and they see that this will really cost the taxpayers of Illinois,” Whitehouse said. “This is not really a great plan for the state of Illinois to get into regulating energy prices and guaranteeing rates of return on electricity to one company that’s not even an Illinois company, when the state of Illinois doesn’t guarantee the rates of return on anything else.”
Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie@wjbc.com. |
