Prarie State Energy Campus

Last October, ground was broken on the Prairie State Energy Campus in southwestern Washington County. This power plant will be a great economic boon to the region, supporting 1,500 construction jobs, and when completed in 2011-2012, will sustain 2,300 jobs and employ state-of-the-art clean coal technologies using Southern Illinois coal from an adjacent mine. Prairie State will have emission levels 80% lower than existing U.S. power plants and is an example of the progress being made to burn coal as cleanly as possible.

A major priority of mine is the further development of advanced clean coal technologies (see FutureGen – Illinois Coal section) as a way to encourage the use of Illinois coal and help the regional economy. I have taken an active role in developing the Prairie State Energy Campus, holding informational meetings on the project. The campus is expected to provide reliable, low-cost electricity for up to 1.7 million families.

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