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State officials for Illinois said this week they plan to hire lobbyists to aid them in securing the $US1 billion power generation plant, according to local news outlet the Times-Courier.
It is anticipated that the hired group would lobby Congress and push for the project to call the state home when it breaks ground in 2009.
The four site locations – the two Illinois towns as well as Heart of Brazos and Odessa, Texas – will be brought down to one winner in September of this year. As many as 200 permanent jobs could be created by FutureGen, which will be the first zero-emissions coal-fuelled power plant.
Illinois Senator Dale Righter, an official representing the areas surrounding both sites’ locations, said he hopes the rich resources of the state will make it an attractive choice in the end.
Members of the FutureGen Alliance include American Electric Power, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, the China Huaneng Group, Consol Energy, E.ON US, Foundation Coal, Rio Tinto Energy America, Peabody Energy, PPL Corporation, and Southern Company.
