The Times, Munster, Ind. (March 10, 2004)

Mar. 10--Indiana has no plans in place to land the $1 billion zero-emissions coal-burning power plant known as FutureGen.

The federal government has not yet put an official process in place for submitting proposals for FutureGen and Indiana's clean coal initiatives are still in a developmental stage, according to Indiana officials.

"I would imagine, as with most states with a lot of coal-fired generating plants and with lots of coal, we would put in a pitch," said Phil Powlick, director of the Indiana Department of Commerce's Energy and Recycling office. "But it's a fairly long way off."

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is wasting no time in getting word out it wants FutureGen in southern Illinois.

Representatives of the Illinois department will head to Washington D.C. on March 24 to make their pitch to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Texas, Virginia, Ohio, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Kentucky have also expressed interest in the project, according to John Mead, director of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's Coal Research Center.

President Bush unveiled plans for FutureGen in his 2003 State of the Union address. The president called it a "10-year demonstration project to create the world's first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant."

Indiana power companies are spending $1.4 billion to clean up nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants under U.S. Environmental Protection mandates.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. alone is installing $230 million in pollution control equipment at its coal-fired generating plants in Northwest Indiana.

But environmental activists and some scientists are pressing for even stricter environmental rules for power plants, particularly in relation to carbon dioxide emissions, a prime culprit in global warming.

A consortium of power industry companies is expected to contribute $250 million in funding to FutureGen. The U.S. Department of Energy will contribute $620 million.

NIPSCO is not presently a member of the industry consortium working on FutureGen.

If it fulfills its promise, FutureGen would reduce nitrogen oxide and sulphur emissions to zero. It also would capture carbon dioxide. In addition it would produce hydrogen, which could be used to fuel pollution-free vehicles.

"It may be the technology that saves coal in the long run," Powlick said. "So states want to be involved with it."

Legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2002 created incentives for power companies to use coal and clean coal technologies.

It also created the Purdue Center for Coal Technology Research.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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