In vetoing two bills Monday that would have paved the way for two coal-to-gas plants to be built in the state, Gov. Pat Quinn signaled his support for cleaner uses of Illinois coal but said he would not support the technology at the expense of consumers.
The bills would have forced state utilities to buy synthetic natural gas, which was expected to be more expensive than natural gas for the next two decades, from a $3 billion plant on Chicago’s Southeast Side proposed by New York-based Leucadia National Corp. and a $1 billion southern Illinois plant proposed by Power Holdings of Illinois. Get the full story »
Residents of Chicago’s Southeast Side descended on the Thompson Center Wednesday morning to urge Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a bill that would pave the way for a coal-to-gas plant to be built in their neighborhood.
The deadline for the governor to sign or veto the legislation is March 14, and he has not said whether he plans to sign the bill, which would require utilities to purchase the synthetic natural gas the $3 billion plant would produce for the next 30 years. Get the full story »
In one of its final votes of the session, the state Senate passed a controversial bill this morning that would force state utilities to purchase synthetic natural gas from a plant proposed for downstate Illinois.
The bill paves the way for Power Holdings of Illinois LLC’s to produce gas from Illinois coal in Jefferson County by guaranteeing that the plant would have a market for the gas it produces for the next 10 years: Illinois consumers.
The vote follows a similar bill that passed last week that forces utilities to purchase the total output of a coal-to-gas plant proposed for Southeast Chicago by Leucadia National Corp. for the next 30 years. Get the full story »
Central Illinois cities that want to be part of a massive clean-coal project are getting a look at what they need to host a carbon dioxide storage facility. The FutureGen Alliance released specifications for the facility Wednesday.
Private equity firm Blackstone Group Friday struck a deal to buy power producer Dynegy Inc. for $543 million in cash and sell some of the company’s best assets to NRG Energy in the latest shake-up in the electric industry.
The deal values Dynegy at $4.7 billion including debt, which would make it one of the biggest buyouts of a power company since Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs bought TXU for $32 billion in 2007. Get the full story »
