ST. LOUIS -- In fierce bidding reminiscent of efforts two decades ago to win the superconducting super collider, seven states are aggressively trying to land a billion-dollar power plant prototype that's virtually pollution free.

Home to a third of the dozen sites chasing FutureGen, Illinois has up to $80 million in incentives on the table, from grants to low- interest loans. Ohio is offering twice that, while Texas has passed a law making it responsible for any legal entanglements stemming from the coal-fired plant's carbon dioxide emissions.

Kentucky's bid includes 215 acres of free land in Henderson County -- near an active coal mine and the confluence of the Green and Ohio rivers -- and $2.4 million in incentives.

The state enticements are worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the hunt for more than 1,000 construction jobs and 150 permanent ones, along with the researchers and side businesses the plant should attract.

Did anyone mention the bragging rights?

"One of these sites ultimately will become known worldwide as the place where a new generation of zero-emission energy plants made its debut," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said recently.

The finalists will be tapped this summer, with the winner to be announced next year -- five years before the plant is expected to be running.

Touted as the power plant of tomorrow, FutureGen involves technology that converts coal into highly enriched hydrogen gas that burns cleaner than coal. Plans call for the 275-megawatt plant to capture most of its emissions of carbon dioxide -- a "greenhouse" gas widely blamed for global warming -- and inject them permanently into underground reservoirs, a process called sequestration.

A FutureGen alliance made up of a handful of coal and electric companies, including St. Louis-based Peabody Energy Corp., has committed more than $250 million to the project. The U.S. government is putting up about $700 million.

The alliance's criteria have included a site's access to coal, water, rail lines, power transmission and underground geology that would allow permanent storage of carbon dioxide waste.

From there, states have sweetened the pot considerably.

Illinois is offering a $17 million grant to help pay for project costs, as well as an estimated $15 million in sales tax exemptions and $50 million for below-market rate loans to the FutureGen alliance.

Ohio is involved in two proposals. In one, it joins with Kentucky and Pennsylvania to create a regional "coal consortium," meaning that if one of those states is a finalist the other two would support that state's bid. The second proposal would locate the plant in either Meigs or Tuscarawas counties in southeast Ohio, rich with recoverable bituminous coal.

Ohio's package of grants, low-interest loans and infrastructure support could total up to $164 million.

In Texas, which already has spent $2 million in choosing its two sites for the project, officials are offering $20 million to the FutureGen alliance for use on infrastructure or development.

West Virginia is offering 387 acres of state land for the site it has in play. Wyoming is pitching more than $30 million in incentives -- including sales and use tax exemptions -- while providing 640 acres of land worth about $900,000.

North Dakota's enticements total roughly $20 million, including various tax exemptions, $10 million in matching funds and $1.56 million for work force training.

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A look at the FutureGen project

Facts about FutureGen, a billion-dollar power plant that could be the prototype for tomorrow's pollution-free electrical generation:

Origin: Announced in 2003 by President Bush.

What it is: A prototype for plants that can produce electricity and hydrogen from coal.

Key characteristic: Site would be suitable for safely storing carbon dioxide permanently deep underground.

Power: The plant would generate 275 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 150,000 homes.

Time Frame: A winning site is to be selected next year, with the plant scheduled to be running by 2012.