Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
7/25/2014
In a 2-1 decision, a state appellate court ruled this week that the Illinois Commerce Commission has the authority to require other state utilities to foot some of the bill for the costly FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project. Commonwealth Edison Co. (ComEd) and a group comprised of other energy suppliers challenged a sourcing agreement approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in late 2012. According to ICC documents regarding FutureGen, “the sourcing agreement requires the state’s electric utilities to purchase electricity from FutureGen 2.0 for 20 years, with the utilities then permitted to collect costs for the project on a pro rata basis from alternative retail electric suppliers.”
The FutureGen 2.0 project, once completed, will be a 200 MW oxy-combustion retrofit to unit 4 at Ameren Energy Resource’s coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Ill. Construction is due to start later this year with the plant becoming operational in 2017. The project, expected to cost at a total of $1.65 billion, is funded in part with $1 billion awarded in 2010 from the Recovery Act. “The FutureGen Alliance is pleased the First District Illinois Court of Appeals upheld the ICC’s decision to approve a power purchase agreement for the FutureGen 2.0 project. The PPA will protect Illinois ratepayers while providing the necessary cost recovery mechanism for FutureGen’s electricity. This important decision will help the state to meet its goal of obtaining 25 percent of its energy from clean coal sources, and will keep the FutureGen 2.0 project on track to create economic growth, jobs and near-zero emissions power,” FutureGen 2.0 Chief Executive Officer Ken Humphreys said in an email.
