Power from proposed plant too costly
The Illinois Senate has just passed Illinois SB 678, a bill to construct a $3.5 billion, 602-MW Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plant, designed to capture more than 50 percent of its carbon emissions.
IGCC power plants cost twice as much to build as ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants and four times as much as natural gas power plants. The electricity produced by IGCC plants is very expensive — but the Senate Bill requires Illinois rate payers to buy the expensive electricity for at least 30 years.
A maneuver by Senate President John Cullerton allowed the bill to come up for a vote even though it had been defeated twice before.
The Senate vote was 30 to 28.
The bill now goes to the Illinois House. Unless you want to pay a lot more for your electricity, it’s important to contact your representatives to tell them to vote no on this bill.
The reason for building IGCC plants is to capture CO2, the supposed cause of global warming. Capturing and sequestering CO2 underground is a fantasy. In this instance, there isn’t even a proven underground formation in which to store it for centuries.
Articles on Power For USA describe CCS in detail. I cover energy issues on powerforusa.com.
Donn Dears
Geneva